Austria's Musical
by Sode no Shirayuki1411
Summary: Headmaster Rome Vargas isn't sure anyone can take this group of dropouts and deadbeats and inspire them. But if anyone can, he knows that it's young music teacher Anniliese Edelstein. Hetalia high-school AU! Multiple parings! Nyotalia & regular!talia. Yaoi & Het parings. Don't like, don't read.
1. Her New World

Chapter 1: Her new world

"Thank you for taking the time to come in, Miss Edelstein," Rome Vargas, the elderly but unusually young-looking and handsome, _and,_ Anniliese thought, _suspiciously familiar-looking_, headmaster of Hetalia University-High said. He shook Anniliese's hand.

"Thank you for having me Headmaster Rome," Anniliese replied politely, glad she was wearing gloves, they hid how cold and clammy her hands had become with nerves. What could the Headmaster of Hetalia Academy want with her? This was a school well known for its prestige and glamour, why on Earth was she here?

Anniliese was twenty years old, graduating High school at sixteen then finishing a four-year joint course of performing arts: Music and teaching, not three months ago. Mr. Vargas couldn't possibly be looking to employ her.

"Miss Edelstein, have you heard of the 'help class' this school provides?" Rome asked her, smiling, though there was sadness behind his eyes.

Anniliese blinked violet eyes behind thin glasses she didn't need but wore anyway because she thought her face plain without them. "No sir, I haven't," she admitted.

She hadn't even known about this school until she'd furiously researched everything she could about it last night after Mr. Vargas had called and requested an interview.

Rome didn't fill her in immediately, instead he picked up her resume from his desk, Anniliese mentally frowned, she hadn't submitted a resume to this school! How had he gotten that?

Rome barely glanced at the resume before tossing it back on his desk, "you are quite the prodigy, Miss Edelstein, graduating at sixteen –skipping two grades!- and having the qualifications to teach University students at a younger age than many of them! Truly a sensation!"

He smiled at her and Anniliese got the sense that in his day this man would have been an amazing lady-killer. But she knew he would have been one of the nice, flowery types who genuinely enjoyed making women feel special. Not _her_ type to be sure but Anniliese couldn't help but feel flattered.

"Why thank you sir, I must admit, I enjoy working hard." Anniliese said, because it was true, she did enjoy working hard. She might have flown up the metaphorical ranks but everything she had gotten she had worked and strived for.

Rome didn't even glance at her file as he continued, it was obvious he had the whole thing memorised. "Your mother is Maria Edelstein, the President of Austria; I bet that was hard to live up to."

His words were sympathetic but Anniliese knew what he was trying to say. It was the same thing they _all_ said. Behind her back, to her face, in her interviews, her every achievement overshadowed by sneers of _'she only got this far because her mother is President.'_ It was why she had moved to the United States for university and work. And it appeared that even here she was not free of those rumours!

Anniliese's white-gloved hands clenched in her lap, though she was careful not to crinkle her white skirt, "she was an inspiration to me. I worked hard to live up to my mother, I enjoyed the challenge." _Most of the time. _

Rome smiled, understanding what Anniliese was really saying, she had not used her mother as a step stool for her career. "And live up to her you did. However, you could have been a famous piano player, did your mother approve of you turning down that offer to teach?"

Anniliese inclined her head, "my mother trusted my judgement, she is willing to go along with what will make me happy and fulfilled in life." That was a lie if Anniliese had ever told one, when her mother had found out Anniliese turned down a record contract to teach (and in America, no less!) she had, screaming, thrown her out of the house.

Fortunately no-one outside the Edelstein family knew of this and of course Anniliese had not been officially disowned (that would ruin her mother's image). While Anniliese despised being seen as 'mummy's little suck-up' constantly, her pride refused to allow her to be labelled the 'family disappointment' either.

_Plus if I were to make something of it that _woman_ might actually think I care._ No-one had ever accused Anniliese of being unable to hold a grudge.

Amusement danced in Rome's eyes as though he could tell what Anniliese was thinking and what she was saying and not saying. It was not the first time today Anniliese had thought that about this man, _what, does he read minds or something? Why doesn't he get to the point?_

"To get to the point, Miss Edelstein," Rome said, leaning forward. Had Anniliese been anyone else, she would have flinched, _he _can_ read minds!?_

"The help class this academy offers is for troubled students," Rome said bluntly, a new sense of urgency in his eyes.

"Trouble students, sir?" Anniliese asked, she hadn't been aware that Academies this esteemed even accepted trouble students, hers' certainly hadn't.

But Rome shook his head, "not trouble students, my dear, _troubled _students, students of all ages who have paid to get in or gotten a scholarship on their own but have, shall we say, _problems_."

_Like a special needs class?_ Anniliese wondered, did special need students get scholarships? Hell if she knew.

Again, Rome seemed to read her mind, "this isn't for special education students, Miss Edelstein, this is for students who have had a traumatic or life-altering event in their past that they might need help coping with." He explained.

"Every one of those students has lost at least one person in their lives; many of them are orphans, or were before they hit 18. They're students that this school worries aren't reaching their full potential because they're holding back. We need a teacher who can reach these kids and open them up."

He paused. Feeling as though he wanted her to say something, Anniliese shook her head slightly, her brown ringlets swishing faintly. "I don't understand why you're telling me this sir," Anniliese said honestly, if he offered _her_ a place in this class, she was leaving.

When she was much younger Anniliese lost her father to cancer, her adopted brother to another foster family, her adopted sister had been taken away by her long-lost grandfather and her foster brother had been taken back by _his_ own family.

To put the icing on the top of the cake, when he'd been _in the car driving back to his 'real' home,_ her poor, beloved foster brother Ludwig had been hit by a car and died. But even though her past hadn't all been sunshine and roses Anniliese _did not_ have issues from a thing that happened _11 years ago_ for God's sake!

And she would _not_ appreciate some random teacher-dude insinuating that she did. She could only imagine how those students must be feeling.

"You've certainly reached your full potential; tell me, what is your way of expressing yourself, Miss Edelstein?" Rome asked, instead of answering Anniliese's statement.

"Well…" the young woman said, still not understanding, "I suppose that would be music, sir." She confessed honestly.

"Exactly." Rome rested his elbows on his knees, "what better way to get these students out of their shells and fill them with passion for life than with the performing arts? Music! Acting! Dancing! And what better person to teach them than the beautiful lady sitting in front of me?" He gestured at Anniliese with her resume.

Ok, now Anniliese was _really _confused. She was tempted to turn around and see if there was someone sitting behind her. Rome was insane, _he has to be insane, it almost sounded like…_

"Are you… offering me a job? Teaching high-school and university students?" Anniliese asked, half-incredulously, half-cautiously.

Rome beamed and leaned back, satisfied, "yes, I am! I'm glad you understood so quickly."

"B-But," Anniliese stuttered, it wasn't like her to lose her cool but of all the things she had been expecting today, this wasn't one of them, _grade 1 & 2's maybe! I'm only twenty years old for God's sake!_

"I-I'm very flattered, Mr. Vargas," she said slowly, regaining her cool, "but I am very young, I'm not sure I would be suitable for this position. Please, if I may offer a suggestion, get a teacher with more experience, one who is _older_ that the students."

"No older, more experienced teachers have gotten through to them. I want someone closer in age, someone who can identify with them." Rome said. That made more sense than Anniliese was willing to admit.

_Is this even legal?_ "B-But," she stammered.

Rome rose to his feet, on instinct, Anniliese rose too, "excellent! I knew you'd say yes! I'll e-mail you everything you need to know later today." He ushered her out the door, "you start on the 29th of August, school starts at 7:30, the teachers lounge opens at 6. Thank you for your time today Miss Edelstein, I look forward to working with you!" Then, beaming, he shut the door in Anniliese's face.

_Rude._ "Wait!" She called, "I never said-" Rome's loud singing blocked her voice out, _he is an _ass._ Don't I need to sign something? _

Well it looked like she would be working from the 29th of August onwards if Rome got his way.

Anniliese released a shriek of despair as she remembered today's date: the 28th of August. _Oh this _can't_ be legal…_

Well Rome _had_ offered her a position in the help class. It just hadn't been the one Anniliese had been expecting.

* * *

**A/N: Ok guys! There's chapter 1. Tell me what you think. But be nice please. This is my first Fanfiction ever! (I'm so nervous). And I'm not really sure how to do this whole 'uploading' thing. I can't believe this worked! **

**Ok, to clear things up; Anniliese's other brother and sister were referred to as 'adoptive' while Ludwig was called her 'foster' brother. There ****is**** a difference. 'Adopted' is when you formally become part of that family. 'Foster' is when you're living with that family because yours' can't or won't take care of you for one reason or another. I think. If I'm wrong please correct me. It's not exactly a topic I have intimate knowledge of. And no, Germany is not dead. Spoiler.**


	2. Their Lives

**I don't own anything. If I owned Hetalia I wouldn't be sitting here writing fanfiction about it, would I?**

**I am such a newb! I can't believe I forgot to put a disclaimer on my last chapter!**

**Anyway, I would like to give much thanks to Scarfaye and amichalap who put this story on alert and amichalap again for adding this story to her favorites You guys rock! I hope I don't disappoint.**

**Oh, and Anniliese swears, nothing major, she just says 'bullshit.' I know this is a T-rated fanfic but I thought I should warn you guys anyway.**

* * *

Anniliese looked over the files that she had been given. True to his word Rome had e-mailed her all the forms and filled out all the paperwork which, like an idiot, Anniliese signed and sent back.

Leaning back in her chair with a delicate cup full of coffee she sighed, it looked like Rome was going to get his way. She _would_ be working on the 29th of August. Which was the _next day._

She sighed again and set her coffee cup down on her desk, massaging her temples. Most teachers had _weeks_ to plan their lessons, Anniliese had hours.

She glanced at the clock beside her. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. Anniliese removed her glasses and put her face in her hands. _I hate that damn headmaster. Who died and made that idiot a headmaster anyway? Idiots._ Anniliese hated her boss already. And she hadn't even started yet...

Picking up her coffee she sipped it lightly, she probably shouldn't drink black coffee at 4:30 in the afternoon when she was already tense, she'd be up all night. But hey, Anniliese took another sip; there was no one to tell her no.

_Maybe I could just tell them to pick an instrument and screw around with it for a lesson?_ Then she shuddered, no, even she knew that was only an instant recipe for disaster, broken instruments, disinterested kids and deafening noise.

_Well... I could... Umm... What did my teachers teach _me_ in class?_ She wondered. Her mind blanked. She couldn't remember a single thing her teachers had taught her.

Putting down her cup Anniliese got up and walked over to her piano. She sat down on the silk-covered stool and stared at the ivory keys. _How do I breathe again? Just in and out, right? Inhale and exhale yes? Well... _her fingers trembled, _how do I play the piano again?_ She had never been this nervous in her life;_ I can't teach anyone music if I can't even remember how to play the thrice-dammed piano! _

She touched a few piano keys and her memory came flooding back. She played Fur Elise for a while then walked back to her desk. _The first thing my piano teacher ever did was inspire my love for playing. I have to inspire these kids, make them _want _to learn._

Anniliese used the term 'kids' loosely as there was sure to be more than one student older than she was. That thought alone had been enough to make Anniliese stressed.

She had been taught how to teach, of course. But she wasn't sure if any of the rules and techniques she had been taught would work here. She had been flat-out told by Rome, Headmaster Vargas,' she reminded herself sternly, that the usual rules didn't apply to her and her class. She didn't even need to actually teach these students anything as long as she got them to 'open up.' Help them become functioning members of society and help heal their old wounds. As long as she did that, she could pretty much do what she wanted.

_And what do I want?_ Anniliese wondered. What she _wanted_ was to run down the street screaming but she doubted that would help her situation and she was raised better than that anyway. _That's something Gilberta might do,_ Anniliese sighed, she hadn't thought about Gil in a while.

Her childhood worst enemy and best friend Gilberta Beilschmidt was Anniliese's foster brother Ludwig's biological older sister. The two girls had become friends and rivals when Anniliese's parents took Ludwig in after his and Gilberta's parents died when Ludwig was no more than a toddler.

Gilberta had been adopted (not fostered by) a wonderful man named Fredrick Williams but unfortunately it was many years and even more court cases before he was able to adopt Ludwig also.

The only reason he had been able to do so was because Anniliese's father died so Fredrick's lawyer had been able to convince the judge that Anniliese's single mother wouldn't be able to take care of Ludwig as well as Fredrick and his wife would. And that it was better to keep Ludwig with his biological sister instead of his foster ones. Anniliese suspected that copious amounts of bribery had been involved; there wasn't anything Frederick wouldn't do for Gilberta.

Then the car accident had happened. Ludwig had died the moment Gilberta had gotten him back. Another car had rammed theirs from behind. Fredrick in the front had been hurt, but not seriously, in the back seats Gilberta had been seriously wounded and Ludwig had been killed. After she was able to leave intensive care, Fredrick took Gilberta from Austria back to Germany, their home country. After she held back her screaming foster sister Feliciana as the social workers took Ludwig away along with Gilberta, Anniliese never saw either of them again.

She shook herself and gave herself a mental slap. She couldn't be thinking about that now, she had work to do, people to inspire. Though Anniliese refused to believe there was a single person living who Beethoven couldn't inspire she seriously doubted it would be that easy.

Her computer beeped, letting her know she had another message. Anniliese clicked on it and frowned. It was from Headmaster Rome. "What now?" She grumbled out loud, Anniliese didn't usually talk to herself but now she got the feeling she would be doing it a lot. The message from Rome was exactly like the man himself, cheerful and obnoxious.

**Hey Annie!** He had typed. Anniliese bristled, _no one_ called her Annie. Ever!

**Just wanted to send you the profiles of all your students so you know what you're in for! I think you'll be****_ pleasantly surprised _****;)**

**Take a look at the students' pictures too! They're all insanely attractive! It's ridiculous! Especially my adorable little granddaughters! And don't you go giving them special treatment because they're my grandkids! Work them to the bone girl!**

**Have fun on your first day tomorrow!**

**Rome Vargas.**

_Pleasantly surprised?_ Anniliese wondered. What in the name of the Holy Roman Empire was that supposed to mean? And there was no way Rome was old enough to have 12-25+ year old granddaughters!_ Anniliese_ had thought he was attractive for God's sake! A _little_ too old for her. But not much! And that was only because Anniliese wouldn't date a man more than ten years her senior.

Shaking her head she clicked on the file containing the names and profiles of her new students. She wasn't even sure this was legal but nothing that had happened to her in the last nine hours was normal so she didn't expect this to meet any of her rules of normality either. And she wasn't even going to get started on how creepy she found Rome calling all her students and both his granddaughters 'insanely attractive.'

The page loaded. A list of names with links to the student's files. Anniliese's eyes flicked over list, it was in alphabetical order by the surname, just like a school attendance list. She glanced at the list and her eyes widened on the first name. _Oh you have got to be joking…_

**Gilberta Beilschmidt.**

**Age: 21, **

**Born:Day-18, Month-January, Year-1992, **

**Gender: female. **

There was a picture of Gilberta opposite these words. Nope. Anniliese's mind refused to comprehend what she was seeing. A picture of the very girl Anniliese had been thinking about not 10 minutes ago stared back at the brunette from the screen. The words of Gilberta's profile swam before Anniliese's eyes and she blinked rapidly to clear them. Ripping her glasses from her face, she stared at the profile; 21 years old, 5'5, German, diagnosed with Albinism and Photophobia at birth… This was definitely her.

Ok, option 1. Rome was a total troll who knew far more about Anniliese's life than he was letting on and wanted to reunite the two girls for whatever reason. Option 2. Someone was playing a prank on Anniliese for whatever reason. Option 3. This was a total coincidence. Or option 4. Anniliese was dreaming. She liked the last option the best.

Anniliese pinched herself viciously, it hurt like the Devil. Unfortunately for her she wasn't dreaming.

_What is Gilberta doing in the United States, last I heard she was in Germany._ Anniliese leaned forwards and started to read her friend's profile. She skipped Gilberta's early childhood completely, she already knew what had happened and it was still kind of a touchy subject with Anniliese herself so she didn't fancy reading it, thank-you-very-much.

Anniliese started reading when she found the words, 'left Austria to live in Berlin,' but paused again when the profile said that Gilberta, her foster parents _and_ her younger brother Ludwig had gone to live in Berlin.

_That doesn't make any sense. Ludwig's dead._ Wanting to confirm this, Anniliese scrolled upwards until she found the mention of the car accident.

**…when their car was rammed from behind by a black Volkswagen, Beilschmidt was critically injured. Her foster parents were mostly unharmed but her younger brother Ludwig was comatose for 6 months, four days and nine hours after the crash. While in intensive care Beilschmidt… **

Anniliese stopped reading. Not for the first time in the last nine hours her mind refused to believe what she was seeing._ N-no… Ludwig is dead, that's what they told me… Why would they say that? I can't believe…_

Leaping to her feet, Anniliese stalked into her living room and grabbed her landline phone. Punching in Headmaster Vargas's home number she waited impatiently for him to answer.

"Hello Annie~!" He sang cheerfully when he _finally_ did. "I knew you'd be calling me soon! Read our friend's profile did we? Must've been a bit of a shock," his voice sounded slightly less energetic and more sympathetic towards the end. "I know that-"

"_Herr_ Vargas," Anniliese interrupted, forgetting her English in her anger, "forgive me for interrupting but please explain to me exactly what you mean by this?!" She was shaking. Her hands trembled on the phone and her body shook like a leaf in a gale.

"You sound angry," Rome seemed upset by this. "I thought you'd be happy. You found your friend and her little brother –and yours, in a way- is alive!"

"You mean to tell me." Anniliese enunciated each word slowly and carefully, "that you hired me to teach a group of students at your school and the fact that my childhood friend is the first person on that role is _pure coincidence?!"_

"Yup!" Said Rome happily, "Imagine _my _surprise when I recognized your name on your resume!"

_'Bullshit!'_ Anniliese wanted to yell, but her proper upbringing would never let her do that. Instead she, relatively calmly, asked, "then how did you know we were friends and where did you recognize my name from, Mister Vargas?"

"I just guessed that you were friends, seemed like a safe bet. And I recognized your name from Ludwig Beilschmidt's profile." Rome replied honestly.

Wait… Something wasn't adding up. "Ludwig's alive and _he's in my class too?!"_ Anniliese almost yelled.

"Surprise!" Rome chuckled.

Anniliese was beginning to feel very strange. She no longer felt angry, just… strange… "I have to go now Mister Vargas, I'll call you back." She hung up without waiting for Rome's reply.

Anniliese's shaking had turned into full-on tremors and her head felt light. She was just reaching to replace the phone back into it's cradle when the shock caught up to her and Anniliese fainted…

* * *

**Ok. Nothing very interesting happened in that chapter and for that I apologize from the depths of my heart. Not all of the chapters will be like this, I promise. Who knows, I may actually have something happen in the next chapter! But Germany's not dead. Yay! And yes, I genderbent Prussia too. Blame my crazy friend. If there's something that doesn't make sense and you'd like to ask a question review away. Or even if you'd just like to leave a comment, or even just to tell me I suck and should stop wasting everyone's time (but please say it nicely). Review away! Ok, that's all, I hope I didn't forget anything.**


	3. Her Mistakes

**Another special thanks, this time to Katie-kat for favoriting and Kiyue for following! You guys are as awesome as Prussia!**

**Ok, here's chapter 3. Don't get used to me updating this quickly, I'm a busy person. If you have any favorite pairings you want me to put in this story let me know, I write just about any pairing, yaoi, yuri het, I don't mind. I am genderbending a lot of characters in this fic but if you don't mind than I don't either. Okay, enjoy!**

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Chapter 3: Her Mistakes

"Miss? Can you hear me? Hello?" Someone was slapping Anniliese's face so gently she could barely feel the taps. She opened her eyes and blinked against the light.

_Where am I?_ She didn't know where she was but she knew this wasn't her house. _What's going on?_

"Miss, you're in hospital, the Emergency room, can you tell me your name and what happened to you?" This voice was different from the first one, they were both male but this one was older, less harsh but not as interesting. The fist speaker was German or Swiss or something. The second was American.

Anniliese glanced to her left and then to her right. On her left was a middle-aged, balding man in a lab or doctor's coat and glasses, she guessed that he was the owner of the second voice. On her right was a young man of about Anniliese's age or a shade younger. He had chin-length blond hair and brilliant green eyes and a slight frown marred his slender features. He had been the one tapping her face, she realized, as he drew his arm back. He was also undoubtedly the owner of the first, younger voice.

Anniliese shook her head; she was getting quite tired of not understanding things, why wouldn't her life just _make sense_ like it used to? Anniliese cursed the last nine hours and everyone who had played a part in them. _That damn Italian!_ She shook her head again, the action made her temples throb.

"Who are you? Why am I in the hospital?" She asked neither male in particular. She couldn't be in hospital, she had work to do. Tons of it.

"This young man was walking by your house and saw you passed out on the floor." The older man who was obviously a doctor said, gesturing at the blond. Anniliese, nodded, that made sense, she had been in her living room when she had passed out and her front window floor-length so it would have been easy for anyone to see her if she was on the floor unconscious. But… why had she been unconscious again? Anniliese paled as the memory came back to her, _that _damn _Italian!_

"Miss do you remember who you are? What your name is? Can you tell us what happened to you?" The doctor pressed gently.

Anniliese looked around, she had to leave. Now. She had _so_ much to do. "Yes of course I remember who I am. My name is Anniliese Edelstein, I'm 20 years old and was born on October 26th 1992." She swung her legs off the edge of the bed and got up, ignoring the doctor's protests and the young man's tense body language, "excuse me but do you have my glasses? I really must be leaving."

The doctor handed them to her and Anniliese put them on, she didn't need them, they were nothing but plain glass but she felt so self-conscious without them. She just felt that her face was so plain without them, even with the little mole on the left side of her chin.

"Even if you are as unharmed as you appear to be, you still need to stay overnight for observation in case there is something wrong with you, we also need to run a few tests to see why this happened. There didn't seem to be any cause and that's worrying." The doctor said anxiously.

Anniliese could see he was a good man who genuinely cared about all of his patients, even if they were ungrateful, violet-eyed Austrians.

She smiled with genuine gratitude, "thank you, but that won't be necessary; I just had something of a shock." Medal for understatement of the year, "it won't happen again. I am very sorry for the inconvenience."

"Oh," the doctor seemed charmed by her politeness. "Well if you're sure… but please make an appointment with the receptionist for a check-up sometime this week, just in case."

"Thank you, I will." Anniliese turned to the younger man, "and I can't begin to thank you enough."

"No problem, it's not like you were in any danger anyway," the young man mumbled, shoving his hands into the pockets of his smart black suit.

Anniliese smiled, "thank you anyway." She said sincerely.

He shrugged and followed her out of the room and down the corridor, "let me walk you home, it's late." He said.

"Well thank you very much, but I don't want to be any more of a bother," Anniliese said. Truth be told, she was mortified. She had fainted like a little sissy and this young man had been worried about her.

"It's not a bother, it's on my way anyway, I was walking home when I saw you in the first place. And like I said; it's late." He seemed quite agitated, but not angry.

"Well thank you then, I'd very much appreciate that. Do you know how long I was out for?" Anniliese asked.

"Two hours, it's almost seven pm now." The young man replied in what Anniliese was now certain was a Swiss accent.

_As if I wasn't behind enough already_, Anniliese thought, but all she did was mentally roll her eyes, it would do her no good to voice her frustrations now.

They exited the building, pausing only for Anniliese to make an appointment for a check-up that Wednesday.

"Thank you again," Anniliese said, "I still can't believe I passed out like that, how embarrassing." She looked down and her cheeks coloured.

"Must've been some pretty shocking news," her companion said. He didn't seem to be much of a talker.

"It was," Anniliese assured him. He didn't ask what the news was and for that she was grateful. She was also grateful that her house was only a few blocks away from the hospital, it had been a long day.

They stopped at Anniliese's mailbox, she turned to her companion. Violet met startling emerald and for some reason he glanced away uncomfortably. "Thank you for everything Mr…" Anniliese trailed off, "I'm so rude, I never even asked for your name."

"It's Vash." He said, he appeared to be watching her carefully for some kind of reaction, "Vash Zwingli."

_Definitely Swiss. _Anniliese thought.

"Well thank you, Mr. Zwingli." She said, "I'm Anniliese Edel-"

"I know," he assured her. Anniliese blushed again, of course he did. She'd said her name at the hospital earlier.

"Of course you do," she murmured. He glanced at her quickly but she didn't say anything else.

Vash looked at the flowers growing in pots at the foot of the window. "I was just admiring your flowers when I saw you." He confessed.

"Really? They're edelweiss flowers, they're my national flower." Anniliese confessed. She kept them because they reminded her of home.

"You're Austrian," Vash murmured, he didn't say it as a question.

"Yes. Are you Swiss?" Anniliese asked, she was 100% certain she was right, but it didn't hurt to check.

He nodded wordlessly.

"Then they're your national flower as well, Mr. Zwingli." Anniliese said.

"Yes they are." He murmured. He appeared to grow agitated again, but maybe that frown was natural for him. "I should go. Take care of yourself, Miss Edelstein." He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets.

"You too. Goodbye Mr. Zwingli, and thank you again." Anniliese replied, she felt oddly drawn to this strange young man, like she should know him. But she didn't.

After they bade each other goodnight Anniliese walked into her house and sat down at her computer. She opened Ludwig's file, right under Gilberta's, her stomach clenching with nerves at what she might find. She had only read a few lines when her eyes began to blur and she quickly fell asleep.

* * *

"Sweet Prussia of the Holy Roman Empire! I'm late!" Anniliese yelped as she saw the time on her computer screen. It was 6:32am on the 29th of August. And Anniliese hadn't planned a single thing.

Leaping from her chair she quickly downloaded all of her student's files onto her touch-screen phone and than ran around trying to get as organized as she could as quickly as possible. She threw her clothes on the floor when she normally wouldn't have dreamed of doing less than hanging them on a chair. She ripped a brush through her long wavy hair and pulled it into a thick plait. She settled on a dark purple skirt and matching jacket with a while blouse and sensible shoes before dashing out the door. It wasn't like she needed to take anything with her.

Anniliese nearly broke the speed limit as she drove to school. Her heart was thudding in her ears and her pulse raced.

She pulled up in the staff car-park and went to the front desk, quickly explaining who she was and receiving her role, pda, and badge, as well as a sympathetic look from the receptionist that didn't bode well for Anniliese's future.

Walking to the staff room for the remaining 10 minutes before she needed to leave for her classroom, Anniliese pinned her badge to her shirt. Then she unpinned it and placed it on properly so it _wasn't _upsidedown. Not a good first impression. _Get it together Anniliese._

Walking into the staff room she murmured a polite greeting to the other teachers in the room. All of them glanced at her strangely. "Are you a new student here dear?" A kindly-looking old lady asked her.

Anniliese shook her head, "unfortunately not. My name is Anniliese Edelstein, I'm the new teacher for the Help Class."

"Well aren't you young!" A fourty-ish man exclaimed, "but I'm sure old Grandpa Rome knew what he was doing when he hired you! I look forwards to working with you!"

"Thank you, I look forward to working with all of you as well." Anniliese said politely.

The other teachers seemed to sense that she wanted to be left alone to collect her thoughts. They asked her a few more questions, where was she from? How long had she lived in America? Did she like it? And a few more questions about the job she was starting as well as bits of advice, show no fear, plan ahead etc. Well, Anniliese had already not taken that last piece of advice.

There was more advice on her students; not to let Ivan's appearance intimidate her. Not to let Yao lecture Kiku, Kaoru and Yong Soo. To keep Arthurine and Francis more than a metre away from each other at all times. And that if Antonio, Francis and Gilberta had their heads together whispering they were planning something and needed to be stopped immediately. As well as many other warnings about students Anniliese hadn't had the chance to look up yet. She refrained from mentioning that the only two students she knew were Ludwig and Gilberta. And apparently Rome's granddaughters were in her class too.

After giving her one last piece of advice (under no circumstances was she to let Ivan's younger brother Nikolai into the classroom), they left her alone.

Anniliese sat down on the couch and skimmed, lightning-fast, through the profiles of all her students. At the bottom of Ludwig's Rome had typed a note,

**'just thought I should let you know that Ludwig lost all of his memory in that car accident so he doesn't remember ever having a foster family and his sister hasn't told him. By all means talk to Gilberta but don't mention to Ludwig that you know him. Or Elvo and Feliciana, they don't know it's him either. Other than that, go nuts!'**

What? Elvo and Feliciana? Her adoptive brother and sister? What did they have to do with anything?

A horrible feeling crept over Anniliese and she scrolled directly to the H section. There were only two surnames that started with H. A Japanese girl named Kiku Honda and… Anniliese's adoptive brother Elvo Héderváry. Her eyes widened.

She flicked to the V section. There were three names. A Finnish girl named Tina Väinämöinen (there was no way Anniliese was attempting to say_ that_ name in class) and Feliciana Vargas. Anniliese's adoptive sister who had been taken away by her biological Grandfather _Rome Vargas_ when Anniliese lost her father.

The third name in the V section was Lovina Vargas, Feliciana's older biological sister whom Anniliese dimly remembered because the family of her old friend (and ex-boyfriend) whom she hadn't seen in at least 9 years, Antonio Fernandez Carriedo (he was Spanish) had adopted Lovina.

And scrolling up the list Anniliese saw that Antonio's name was on her role as well! This was_ ridiculous! _Her childhood friend, all three of her foster siblings, one of whom she had thought dead for over a decade, and her ex-boyfriend were in the class she was supposed to teach? And the long-lost Grandfather who had taken Feliciana away from her all those years ago (and yes, Anniliese was still a little upset about that) was her new boss! This was so far from being a coincidence that it wasn't even funny.

Anniliese took a deep breath. Very well, if this was how Rome wanted to play this game then fine. That was perfectly alright with her. Excellent in fact. She was going to teach this class, past companions or no and after she did she was going to_ kick that damn Italian's ass!_

She scrolled through the role to see if Rome had left her any more unpleasant surprises. She flicked quickly through the names to see if she knew any of them. She didn't know the first 21 and just as she clicked out of Matthew Williams-Jones, a 16 year old Canadian-American boy, twin brother of Alfred Williams-Jones (the name above Matthew's on her list), when the bell rang.

Anniliese switched off her phone and, heart rate picking up with every step, walked to her new classroom. It was a pity, had she been given a few more seconds Anniliese would have recognized the last name on her list: Vash Zwingli. But she wasn't. So she went to her classroom blissfully unaware, for now anyway.

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S**wissy found her. Alright, Elvo is male!Hungary, the others are pretty easy to figure out. I don't even know why I'm bothering to genderbend these characters. My crazy friend just points over my shoulder and yells "genderbent that character! And that one! And that one!" And since it was her birthday the day I started this fic I figured I might as well do what she wants.**


	4. Their Deal

**Ok. (Why do I always start with 'ok?') Never mind. Very special thanks to Acrnavy for putting this story on Alert and also for being the first person to review for this story OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

**Special thanks also to Hornet394 for following and favoriting this story. Thank you so much, you're amazing! And I can't believe you read the Trickster series too! I love that series so much but it's not very well known. I just felt I needed to say that.**

**Anyway, I don't own Hetalia. If I did I would not be writing ff of Hetalia. Seriously guys review and tell me what parings you want. If you don't, then I'm just going to go ahead and write the ones I like. YOU WON'T LIKE THEM! Well you might but there's no guarantee. And I'm not going to tell you what they are! Hee hee hee! Ok, let's begin. **

**P.S: POLL UP ON MY PROFILE ABOUT WHO AUSTRIA SHOULD END UP WITH! IF YOU DON'T VOTE I WILL CHOOSE! I SWEAR I WILL!**

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Chapter 4: Their Deal

The receptionist had pointed Anniliese's classroom out to her so she made it there without getting lost.

There were already 5 people there, two tall, blond, blue-eyed males, one smiling with scruffy hair that stuck up everywhere and one with a severe look, shorter hair and glasses.

They appeared to be about Anniliese's age and looked so alike that they had to be related. There was another male but he only appeared to be sixteen or seventeen at the most. He was shorter, slender with blue-violet eyes and silver hair that hung around his face. He was dressed smartly in a brown jacket and white shirt and… was that a Puffin on his shoulder? Anniliese thought so but… a Puffin? Really?

The other two were women, both small and slender like the teenage boy. The first woman was ever so slightly taller than the boy with white-blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She wore the same unimpressed expression Anniliese would be wearing if _her _university made her take what was essentially a therapy course just so Rome Vargas could screw with the new teacher's head. Her resemblance to the teenaged boy was so striking that the two could only be brother and sister. She was wearing a neat little sailor's outfit with long sleeves and a knee-length skirt. She too appeared to about Anniliese's age.

The second female was the shortest and slenderest of the group, like all of her companions she had short blonde hair but her big eyes were more violet than the boy's and she didn't resemble any of her companions. Unlike the other three, she and the scruffy-haired male seemed to be relatively content with being here. Anniliese recognized her from the list, she was the first person under the 'V' section, Tina Va-something-or-other, the Finnish girl.

Anniliese unlocked the door and gestured for the five of them to come inside. They all murmured 'thank you' as she held the door open and Anniliese heard the woman in the sailor suit mutter 'who's she?' before her Finnish companion shushed her.

Anniliese set her things on the empty teacher's desk and heard a few murmurs of surprise. "No way. She's way too young." One of the girls said, Anniliese kept her head bent, staring at her desk, pretending to organize her folder.

"She's hot." One of the guys said, there was the sound of a slap. "Ow!" The man said, "But she's not as hot as you Luka!" The sound of another slap.

Anniliese smiled inwardly and looked up just as the door opened and Gilberta popped through, Ludwig a step behind her.

It was fatal.

The eyes of the two girls met. Unmistakable ruby red met equally unmistakable amethyst purple. Gilberta's eyes went huge, "holy shite! Anniliese?!" Then she was running across the classroom and hurling herself into the brunette's arms.

"Unhand me you!" Anniliese yelped on instinct, the same words she would always say to Gilberta when they were children. She could tell the albino remembered when she chuckled wetly and Anniliese was shocked to realize the older girl was crying.

She tried to pull back and see the German girl's face but Gilberta gripped her tightly and whispered in her ear; "don't tell Ludwig you know him, he-"

"I know." Anniliese said, equally as quietly, Gilberta's body jerked with surprise.

"You do?" She whispered softly, then shook her head, dismissing the topic, "it's so awesome to see you again!" She said loudly, cupping Anniliese's face with a pale, slender hand. "Hey Luddy!" She called, "This is Anniliese Edelstein, I've told you about her a few times I think. She's my childhood friend from when we lived in Austria when we were kids!"

Ludwig moved forwards and a small tremor ran through Anniliese's body and for a second she was afraid she might faint again. _It's really him. He _is_ alive…_ Her gaze misted with tears but she blinked them back and pulled on her poker face. _Not now Anniliese._

Ludwig had grown from an adorable, round-cheeked young child into a tall, broad shouldered, well-muscled young man with slicked back blond hair and sky blue eyes. He was actually very attractive, Anniliese noted, and showed no scars from the crash she had thought killed him. She was glad of that.

"You've told me about her _thousands_ of times schwester," he muttered. He wasn't shy but he wasn't outgoing like his sister either. He seemed mature and responsible, Anniliese inwardly smirked, he hadn't inherited _that_ from Gilberta.

Actually, the two didn't seem very alike at all. One, tall, muscled, mature, reserved and serious. The other small, slender, childish, loud and outgoing. They didn't even _look_ like each other. But that was siblings for you.

Ludwig stretched out his hand, "we might have met when I was a young child but I was in a car accident not long before we left for Germany, I don't remember any of my childhood in Austria," Ludwig admitted, looking slightly uncomfortable. Gilberta looked _supremely_ uncomfortable.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm just glad you're alright." Anniliese said sincerely. She shook Ludwig's hand, it dwarfed hers and she remembered when he'd only been able to wrap all of his tiny fingers around her thumb.

"You guys know each other?" The woman in the sailor outfit asked, eyeing Anniliese shrewdly.

"Yeah, we're childhood friends," Gilberta said happily, she turned back to Anniliese, "it's awesome that you go here now!" She told the Austrian sincerely. She sniffed, "this awesome reunion is bringing awesome tears to my awesome eyes," she said. Ludwig rolled his eyes. "It's so great that we're going to be classmates again!" The albino finished.

"Actually I graduated university three months ago, I teach here now." Anniliese said bluntly, feeling as though she might as well say it and get it over with. Both Gilberta and Ludwig started in surprise.

"Ha!" Gilberta laughed after a second, "you got me. Good one Anna!" She brushed her long white hair away from her face. There was silence for a few seconds. "Oh shit, you're not joking are you?"

"No," said Anniliese.

"I should have known, you never joke. And now you're _our _teacher in this little therapy class, aren't you?" She said, waving her hand around the room flippantly.

"Yes," Anniliese said honestly.

There was silence again, then… "shit! That's awesome! I'll have to remember to be on my best behavior Miss Edelstein!" She winked, Anniliese had a _bad_ feeling about this, her old friend could put the Devil himself to shame if she wanted to.

"Actually that's _Professor_ Edelstein to you," she said, turning back to the desk.

Gilberta sniggered, "yes _Professor."_ She said sweetly. Already Anniliese was tempted to tell her to shut up.

More students had filed through the door and were watching the going's on with curiosity. There was a blond boy who appeared to be about Ludwig's age with straight, chin-length blond hair and green eyes in a pink shirt holding hands with a brunette girl also with green eyes. Two other boys stood slightly behind the girl, another blue-eyed blonde with glasses who looked to be about a year or so younger than the first two, though slightly taller, and a small violet-eyed boy with curly blond hair who seemed to be about fifteen.

Along with them was a very tall male with white hair and violet eyes, wearing a long trench coat and scarf with the creepiest smile Anniliese had _ever_ seen. He appeared to be Anniliese's age or a shade older. Anniliese really didn't want there to be many people older than her, especially not significantly older. The brunette girl and the two boys behind her seemed to be leaning away from him. Beside him was a slender Asian man with a brown ponytail and amber eyes that looked to be in his mid-twenties and a tiny Asian girl with long black hair pulled into a sleek bun and solemn brown eyes who looked about Ludwig's age.

"You two were classmates before? How old are you?" The woman in the sailor outfit pressed.

"I'm twenty years old, twenty one in October." Anniliese said honestly.

The woman frowned, "I turned twenty-one in May. You're much too young for this job."

"I assure you. I am very well qualified, but if you really think so please tell Headmaster Vargas so, I won't stop you." Anniliese replied.

The woman shrugged, "hell if I care."

The rest of the class began to file in, Anniliese spotted Elvo who walked straight past her, he gave her a friendly smile but there was no recognition in his eyes, she saw Gilberta lift an eyebrow and as Elvo sat down next to her (evidently he and Gilberta had become friends again), the German girl leaned over to whisper something in his ear. Elvo nodded a couple of times and his eyes flicked to Anniliese and then away when he saw her looking. Huh, weird.

Like Ludwig, Elvo had grown into quite a handsome young man; a few years older than Anniliese he had the same sweet, delicate face and short brown ponytail he'd had at twelve. He was easily a head taller than Gilberta, who was almost exactly the same height as Anniliese; he had a slender, athletic build and was clutching a frying pan for some reason.

Anniliese watched the rest of the class come in after him, she saw Lovina Vargas come in shortly after Elvo. She knew it was Lovina and not Feliciana due to the colour of her hair and eyes. She also knew due to the placement of that stupid curl both sisters had, the perpetual scowl and lack of happy aura and the fact that she was clinging to Anniliese's ex-boyfriend Antonio's hand exactly the same way she had when she was a child. It appeared Lovina hadn't changed at all, except to grow from a sulky child into a stunning young woman. Anniliese wondered whether Feliciana had changed at all.

This was a music room, a hall really, with instruments covering one end, a stage in the middle and desks and chairs at the other end by the teacher's desk. As the student's desks began to fill up Anniliese's heart rate began to pick up, soon she was afraid of hyperventilating. _Keep it together girl, you haven't even started yet and you're going to be in here until ten._ Her heart quailed at the thought.

Everyone had just settled down when the doors burst open, "aah! Sorry I'm late! I got lost again!" A voice cried. Standing there, clutching a manila folder, schoolbag over her shoulder stood Feliciana Vargas, Anniliese's ex-adoptive sister.

"Feliciana! You should know where all of your classrooms are by now!" Someone scolded. Ludwig. Feliciana scurried to sit next to him, wailing apologies and giving a cheerful hello to the Asian girl seated on Ludwig's other side.

_They're friends?_ Anniliese looked at Gilberta who mouthed '_she doesn't know,'_ and jerked her head at Feliciana. Right, Anniliese was definitely going to have to ask for an explanation later.

"Well. Now that you're all here." Anniliese tried to adopt a brisk tone and loud enough voice to carry to the back of the classroom.

"Miss Edelstein! Is it really you?! It's me! Felici-"

"-ana. I know. Please Feliciana, let me start the class, we'll talk later." Anniliese saw Antonio's eyes widen in recognition and his mouth open but luckily Lovina saw this too and shushed him. Anniliese was eternally grateful.

"As Feliciana just said, my name is Miss Edelstein. But there's no need to call me that if you don't want to. Anniliese, Ann and Anna are all fine; I don't care what you call me." She confessed. "As some of you may already know or have figured out I know a fair few of you, Feliciana, Gilberta, Ludwig, Lovina and," she rolled her eyes at the wide-eyed half-hopeful half-fearful expression on the Spaniard's face. _"Yes_ Antonio, I remember you too."

He whooped, Lovina slapped him on the back of the head.

Gilberta however, frowned, "Anna knows Tony?" She muttered aloud, confused.

_Tony?_ Anniliese wondered, that sounded close; even _she'd_ never called him Tony.

"Ve? Luddy and Miss _Neve*_ know Miss Edelstein?" Feliciana asked no-one in particular. Even when they'd been sisters growing up together Feliciana always insisted on calling her 'Miss Edelstein.' But Anniliese found it hard to believe that Feliciana had become friends, close friends apparently, with the boy she'd practically learned to walk and talk with and didn't even know it was him.

_But then again, she probably thinks _her_ Ludwig is dead too. And it was a long time ago. And the Feliciana I remember had trouble remembering what she'd eaten for breakfast each morning so maybe it's not that much of a stretch._ She glanced at Elvo. _What's his excuse though?_

"Which I hope will be an asset to teaching all of you." Anniliese continued smoothly, as though there'd been no interruption. "As you all have probably figured out by now I'm the 'Help' teacher. I'm the person assigned to get you all to, in short, become more outgoing."

The boy in the pink shirt raised his hand; Anniliese wished she knew his name. She pointed, "yes, you?"

"You want us to, like, become more like Gilberta?" He asked in a thick valley-girl style accent. Anniliese couldn't really tell but she thought he sounded Polish.

"Oh God's no." Anniliese said quickly, there was a ripple of laughter across the room. Gilberta pouted. "But I do want us all to get something out of this class." A plan was rapidly forming in her head, a plan that had about a three percent chance of working and would likely get her fired. But a plan never the less.

"I'm a musician and I love what I do." She explained, "Headmaster Rome Vargas wants me to inspire you all and bring you 'out of your shells,' so to speak." She ignored Feliciana's cry of 'Grandpa Rome!'

"I understand that not everyone in this room does or will love music like I do but-" The door opening cut her off. A blond male slipped through, a shoulder bag at his side.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to drop my sister off at her class." He said, in a very familiar Swiss accent.

_Oh please not him…_ Anniliese thought.

When Vash Zwingli looked up from zipping up his bag his eyes met Anniliese's. Anniliese felt herself start to blush with mortification as the young man who, barely twelve hours ago had found her unconscious on her floor stared back at her.

"Well…" she managed, her heart threatening to just _stop beating._ "You haven't missed much. Please take your seat Mr. Zwingli." And now she'd slipped up and revealed she knew his name. Anniliese just wanted to curl up into a little ball and die. This was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to her. Even more embarrassing than… okay no, not that. But it was still very embarrassing! _I can't teach this guy anything! He found me unconscious on my floor!_ Her mind wailed.

She swallowed, "I understand that no everyone feels the same way about music that I do." She repeated, her plan was firmly stuck in her head now. And if this got her fired well… right now nothing would make her happier.

She had been moving from her desk as she talked, slowly making her way to the center of the part of the room cleared for teaching. There she stopped and turned to fully face her new class. "I'd like us to make a deal."

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**Luka and Tina-fem!Norway & fem!Finland, but that was kind of obvious again. **

**Schwester-German for 'sister.' I think. **

**Neve-Italian for snow, again, correct me if I'm wrong. Calling Gilberta 'Miss Snow' is just a nickname, due to her colouring.**

**Dun dun dun? What is Austria's deal?**

**These just keep getting longer and longer. I try to keep my chapters 3 and a quarter pages long. This one was the longest so far and was exactly 4 pages. Should I just start writing longer chapters?**

**What, am I talking to myself here? Review people! Pleeeeeease! Even if it's only, 'good job.' Or 'you suck.' Just tell me what you think.**

**Damn it! Did anyone notice I said 'ok' twice in the author's notes at the top? What is wrong with me?**

**And just so you guys know I will be gone for around four days starting tomorrow so if you contact me then I won't answer, but tonight I'm all yours!**


	5. Her Students

**I'M BACK! Sorry I was gone so long! Huge thanks to Hornet394 for reviewing! I was hoping to hear from you! And yes, I love Aly and Nawat though my favorites will forever be Alanna and George. I just love them that much! And yes, about the story, you don't have to worry, either this chapter or the next one will explain who's who. I try to keep the girl's names close to their male counterpart's (eg; Gilbert-Gilberta, Tino-Tina, Arthur-Arthurine) but I don't always succeed (eg-Roderich-Anniliese, Elizabeta-Elvo). But this chapter or the next one will be about Austria getting to know her students so it'll become much clearer soon (I wouldn't want to be her right about now). Sorry for any confusion. That's all folks! Enjoy!**

**I don't own.**

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Chapter 5: Her Students

"A deal?" Gilberta questioned, speaking for the whole class.

Anniliese sighed, "I don't like you and you don't like me." She said bluntly.

Gilberta blinked, "I like you."

"Well I don't like you so tough luck." Anniliese said snobbishly. The class laughed. Gilberta pouted again and stuck out her tongue. Anniliese ignored her.

"But I do care about what happens to the rest of you." Anniliese continued. "I know not many of you are happy to be here but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get something out of this. I want to teach you and I want to help you, if you'll let me. But let's just concentrate on teaching for now. I know that it's irritating to be forced into a subject you didn't choose when you worked hard for years just so you could choose your own subjects. For the University students I know it's hard to have to come to a lesson when you normally get to decide whether you attend lectures or not, but I believe in making the best out of a bad situation."

She took a deep breath. Feliciana was hanging on her every word with rapt attention. Ludwig, Elvo and Antonio were listening politely, as was the Japanese girl sitting with Ludwig and Feliciana.

The Polish (or at least she thought he was Polish) boy looked bored and Lovina was choosing to stare at Antonio rather than Anniliese. She had to make them want to pay attention to her.

"Who watched Disney movies when they were a child?" Anniliese asked suddenly, the class (it still freaked her out to call them _her _class, even in her head) looked startled. A couple of them blinked at her, Ludwig and Vash included.

"I'm asking a very serious question here," Anniliese assured them as no-one answered. Feliciana and Gilberta's hands shot up into the air, Antonio dragged Lovina's up and, after looking at his sister for confirmation, Ludwig raised his hand into the air as well. The Polish boy and his brunette companion both raised their hands, as did the two blonds behind the brunette.

The Chinese boy with a brown ponytail snickered and smiled slightly, "I think I was a bit old for Disney, aru." He said quietly.

"Unless you were born before _1923_ I doubt that," Anniliese replied, even though he hadn't technically been talking to her. He grinned and raised his hand.

"Come on Kiku; put up your hand too!" He called to the front of the classroom. The Japanese girl seated by Ludwig and Feliciana blushed and ducked her head as she raised her raised her hand into the air.

Smiling, Anniliese raised her own hand, even she; the Princess of Propriety had been enchanted by Disney films in her time. Pretty soon almost her entire class had their hands in the air. Vash didn't. _Well he obviously had no childhood,_ thought Anniliese.

Other than Vash, the only person who didn't have their hand in the air was the very tall white-haired boy with violet eyes and the creepy smile. The Chinese boy seated next to him was looking at him in obvious sympathy, probably thinking the same thing about him that Anniliese had been thinking about Vash.

"That's good," Anniliese said, she was really hoping this plan worked right now. "Who still likes Disney films now?"

A couple of hands faltered, "Don't you lie to me," Anniliese warned as Antonio attempted to put his hand down. He smiled and put his hand back up.

Lovina tried to put her hand down too but after a while Antonio managed to wrestle it back into the air, ignoring her cries of "I don't!" and "let go of me you damn Spaniard!"

Ludwig put down his hand, as did the silver-haired boy, his sister and the scary blond with glasses at the back of the class along with a green-eyed girl with long blonde pigtails who hadn't said anything so far. But other than them everyone kept their hands in the air. These students were still young and still appreciated the magic in life. Anniliese smiled, _this might actually work.  
_  
"I'd like to put on a musical." Anniliese said. Her class looked startled with the sudden change in topic. "I was thinking we should do a Disney film." A couple of kids snickered; most noticeably the silvery-blonde female whom Anniliese thought was named 'Luka.' But she saw a couple of students, most noticeably Feliciana and Antonio look at her with interest.

"Before you make up your minds here me out," she said. "I want us to have fun, to do something that will show results and something revolving around the performing arts, as that is what I was technically hired to teach you. But that's not the deal I want to make." The class was silent. Anniliese took this as a sign to continue.

"I can see a few of you rolling your eyes," she looked at Luka as she said this; the older woman ducked her head and looked away. "And I don't blame you. I'd be furious if I were in your situation. I doubt there's one person in this class who signed up to be here willingly but that doesn't give anyone an excuse not to make the best of this opportunity." She took another deep breath.

"I'll just get to the point. The deal I want to make is simple; I know none of you want to be here so I was thinking something like this." Her heart was thudding so hard she was sure it was going to explode soon,

"I want all of you to work hard during this semester. No matter which film we pick to work on or what your role is, lead, minor, stage hand, whatever. Work as hard as you can during this semester. No missing lessons unless there is an_ incredibly_ good reason, no slacking off when you think I'm not watching."

She fixed a blue-eyed blond young man who had leaned forwards to whisper in the ear of the green-eyed blonde girl, with a piercing glare. "And I am always watching," she said pointedly. He jumped slightly, smiled at Anniliese flirtatiously and leaned back. Gilberta and Antonio sniggered,

Anniliese continued like nothing had happened. "Put everything you have into your roles and meet whatever deadlines we have again, unless there is a very good reason. Don't cause trouble and don't give me any reason to regret this deal." She paused, she had the whole classes attention now, "If you do all of this you will all, undoubtedly, pass. If you all pass then," another deep breath, this was it. "Then you can choose whether you come back next semester and however many semesters after that you are at this school. You will still be formally enrolled in this class but you will never have to set foot inside this classroom again, I will still pass you." There was a collective murmur of surprise. "You can choose to come back, of course, I will happily teach anyone who is still here but you don't have to if you don't want to."

The brunette girl seated by the Polish boy raised her hand, "yes? And what's your name?" Anniliese asked, wishing she hadn't fallen asleep and had studied the names and faces of her students.

"Oh," the girl blushed, "h-hello, my name is Tora Laurinaitis."

_Doesn't _anyone _in this class have an American surname?_ Anniliese seethed quietly, this girl had a strange accent too, similar to Russian but noticeably different, _isn't anyone in this class _actually American?!

Out loud all she said was, "yes Tora, what was your question?"

"Umm, I was just wondering, say this deal does work and we don't come back, you said you'd pass us but what grade would you be giving us, if we're still in high school I mean," her green eyes were flickering to the bespectacled boy beside her as she said this.

Anniliese inclined her head, "whatever grade you are given this semester I will give you for the remainder of your years here. If you get an A, I will continue to give you strait As. So if you're here on a scholarship that requires you to get a certain grade and you get an A this semester you won't have to worry." Both Tora and the blue-eyed boy with glasses looked relieved.

The Polish boy on Tora's other side raised his hand, when Anniliese asked him to continue he leaned back, looking at her with a puzzled air. "Can you, like, even do that?" He asked, "And I'm Feliks Łukasiewicz by the way." He added, almost as an afterthought.

Anniliese smiled tiredly, this was really taking a lot out of her. And she hadn't even been in here for very long, "well Feliks, Mr. Rome hired me to be the 'special exceptions' or 'help' teacher. This means I can do whatever I want. That's the good thing about this class, the usual rules don't apply."

Feliks and Tora glanced at each other and smiled. Anniliese smiled too, it looked like she had won those two over. "So what do you all think?" She asked her class.

Excited murmuring erupted throughout the class, Anniliese waited patiently while each small group came to their own conclusion. There seemed to be a lot of shoulder shrugging and 'what could it hurt?' Being asked, this was exactly what Anniliese had been hoping for. She wanted the students to see that they really didn't have anything to lose.

It wasn't that Anniliese _wanted_ them all to leave after one semester, like she'd said; she would happily teach anyone still in her class everything she knew. But if she could get them to concentrate and give their all to a topic for one semester, just _one _semester, she'd be perfectly happy with that. And if doing a _Disney musical_ didn't get them to open up well then, Anniliese released a soft sigh and rubbed her brow, she'd concentrate on that later.

"I say take the deal, what have we got to lose?" Antonio said to the whole class. There were murmurs of agreement. Lots of murmurs, a whole class-full to be exact.

"Let's do it!" Feliciana said, punching the air, the rest of class nodded.

"Are we all in agreement then?" Anniliese asked, she received a chorus of 'yeses' and nods. She fixed the class with a serious look, "are we _all_ agreed, because if even _one _person fails, this_ whole class_ will still be here next semester, and the semester after that and the semester after _that._ I'm not sure what we will be doing then, or even if it will be music-related or not but I _am_ sure that you wont like it and _I_ wont like it." The whole class was giving her horrified looks now, as though wondering how anyone could be so _heartless._

"Does anyone disagree with the rules of our deal?" Anniliese asked, softer. Everyone shook their heads mutely. "Good." She turned back towards her desk, "now about the musical-"

Feliciana's hand shot up into the air, "yes Feliciana?" Anniliese asked, turning back to her class.  
"Well my name is Feliciana Vargas, I love pasta and I was wondering what Disney movie we'll be doing?" She chirped, bouncing in her seat slightly.

"Err," Anniliese was thrown off slightly as she realized how immature she must look to her class, "we don't have to do a Disney if you don't want to, I'm open to suggest-"

"DISNEY!" Elvo yelled. There was a chorus of agreements.

Anniliese blinked, "well alright, if you want to, how about you all pick the film then?" She was just going to back away slowly now…

"Enchanted?" Gilberta suggested.

"Could we do all of that?" Elvo asked.

"I haven't even seen that one, don't ask me," Anniliese said.

"Mulan?" Suggested the Asian boy, shrugging.

"Guys, guys," Antonio stood up, attracting the attention of the class, "Enchanted was okay, Mulan was pretty damn good. But the greatest Disney film of all time has always been and will always be; the Lion King."

"Seconded!" Yelled the blue-eyed boy Anniliese had glared earlier in a French accent.

"Agreed!" Yelled Gilberta at the same time. The whole class yelled their agreement too. Anniliese sighed in relief, for a second there she'd been afraid they'd end up doing a Princess movie.

"I think we're all in agreement then," said the green-eyed girl who the Frenchman had been harassing earlier in a British accent.

_Is _anyone_ in this class American?!_ Anniliese wondered again.

"Dudes! This is gonna be great!" A blue-eyed boy with blond hair and a cowlick in a bombers jacket exclaimed, punching the air. He at least sounded very American. Anniliese knew who he was, that was Alfred Foster Williams-Jones, the elder of the Williams-Jones twins. The slightly longer-haired boy beside him with violet-blue eyes clutching a polar bear toy was obviously his twin Matthew Williams-Jones.

Anniliese still couldn't believe that they were actually having this discussion, because of her. She wondered if this showed how little clue she had about what she was doing. _I'll have to remember to actually clear this deal with headmaster Vargas. _She mentally reminded herself.

"This has to be the greatest idea for a school subject I have ever heard of," Antonio was saying happily to a couple of nearby students. Anniliese strode up to him rapidly and grabbed his arm, yanking him from his chair.

"I'm glad you think so, _Simba,"_ she said, rapidly she towed him to the front of the classroom, ignoring his protests, and turned him to face the rest of the class. "Is there a girl you'd like to play Nala?" She asked.

Antonio's face lit up just as Lovina muttered 'shit' and hid under her desk.

"Lovi!" He cried, pointing at her, just as Anniliese had known he would.

"No! Go away!" The Italian girl yelled, only her long curl visible from under the desk. Her younger sister ran over to her table and, after much fighting and yelling from the younger sister, Feliciana managed to yank Lovina out from under the desk.

"I said no Felici! You do then if you're so eager!" Lovina was practically spitting fire.

"But you and big brother Antonio make such an adorable couple!" Feliciana whined, ignoring her sister's protests, "Pleeeeeease?! For me?!"

"NO!" Lovina said but she was obviously weakening, Anniliese smirked, they'd had her since the second her sister had said 'for me.' There wasn't anything Lovina could refuse Feliciana.

"N-no," the older Italian said, much less firmly, the whole class watched, amused, as Feliciana leaned around her older sister so Lovina couldn't escape her puppy dog eyes.

"N-no! I said no! I-Alright fine." Just like that all the fight left the Lovina and she sat back down quietly, ignoring her sister clinging to the front of her brown shirt. "If no-one else wants to, I mean," she added, looking around the classroom hopefully. No-one offered. "You guys suck. Who asked you anyway?" she grumbled rhetorically.

"Yay!" Feliciana whooped, "Can I play Ed?" She asked Anniliese excitedly.

It took the older female a moment to remember that Ed was the idiotic Hyena. When she did she shrugged slightly, "Alright, if you want to." She just couldn't imagine why anyone would want to.

"Pasta!" Feliciana said triumphantly, "then Luddy can play Banzai and Kiku can play Shenzi!" Ludwig stuttered protests while the Japanese girl, Kiku, shook her head frantically. Both were drowned out by the over-enthusiastic Italian and, like Lovina, were forced to agree just to shut her up.

The class erupted into arguments over who was going to be who while Anniliese watched with amazement, _guys, I was kidding about the Disney part, seriously…_ It seemed as though the class was dead-set on this idea though.

After watching them bicker good-naturedly for who-knows how long without getting anywhere Anniliese opened her mouth to say something.

Just then the bell rang. Anniliese watched the class file out, all promising to be back on Wednesday and then collapsed at her desk. Her head jerked up when she realized there were still five people in her classroom. Gilberta, Antonio, Elvo, Feliciana and Vash. _Oh this is going to be a long day…_

* * *

**No. this whole fanfic is not going to be about the Hetalia cast doing Disney films, as much fun as that would be.**

**Hehe… And I was worried that chapter was going to be shorter than the others, shows what I know.**

**If you don't know who's who just ask. R & R people, even if you do know who's who.**


	6. Their Teacher

**Again, many, many thanks to Hornet394 and Acrnavy for reviewing. You guys are so amazing! I will forever be grateful. **

**Acrnavy I dearly hope the musical lives up to everyone's hopes, yours and mine included. **

**And Hornet394, it's like you ****_read my mind._**** I could not agree more with everything you said. I feel****_ exactly_**** the same way. Long live the Lion King!  
****  
If you don't know who's who just ask. R & R people, even if you do know who's who.**

**Enjoy guys, I don't own. **

* * *

Chapter 6: Their Teacher

"Did you all want something?" Was all Anniliese managed to get out before Elvo tackled her in a strong hug.

"It's you, it's really you!" Elvo cried. Anniliese didn't remember him being this loud and expressive.

She hugged him back, "yes it's me. I've missed you too Elvo." She held him tightly. She loved Ludwig and Feliciana still and Gilberta would always be her best friend, along with Nickolas, but it was _Elvo _who was the companion of her childhood, Elvo whom she'd known she could always rely on instead of just being relied upon by.

Elvo pressed his lips to the top of her head, muffling his chuckle, "who would have thought." He pulled back and smiled at her gently, he'd always been a cheerful and gentle boy. Until you made him mad, or were Gilberta.

He hadn't always been that way, Elvo had been a tough little cookie who hadn't needed anyone when he first came to live with her. He'd actually kicked Anniliese's ass a few times when they were both small. But slowly Anniliese had broken down his walls so she could see the kind and loving soul within.

Elvo had gone from disliking and being contemptuous of her to adoring her by the time he learnt it was wrong to punch girls. He'd been her constant companion ever since, right up until the day they'd taken him from her and it had always been Elvo she'd missed the most.

"You've grown." Anniliese said finally, Elvo winked at her, brushing back a caramel coloured lock of the strands that framed his face.

"You haven't," he teased. Anniliese scowled, Gilberta laughed. Earlier Anniliese had thought she was almost exactly the same height as the white-haired girl. But now that the were both standing right next to Elvo she saw that Gilberta was very nearly a good half-head taller than she was. The top of Gilberta's head reached Elvo's chin, Anniliese's barely passed his shoulder.

"You're hilarious," she told him sarcastically, he grinned again. He had such a contagious smile, Anniliese felt the corners of her lips tug upwards as well.

Feliciana had done wonderfully trying not to interrupt their reunion but she couldn't contain herself any longer. "Miss Edelstein!" She threw herself into her ex-adoptive sister's arms. Anniliese wasn't the affectionate type but instinctively she hugged her back.

"Hello Feliciana, I've missed you," her voice trembled ever so slightly and the eyes of both Elvo and Gilberta misted with tears.

"I missed you too!" Feliciana wailed, sobbing uncontrollably, "I was happy that Grandpa Rome wanted to take care of me and that we could move back to Italy, really I was! But I missed you and Big Brother Elvo so much! And then we had to go to court because Lovi refused to leave Big Brother Antonio! And I'm so glad you're here!" She hugged the older woman so tightly Anniliese thought her head was going to pop off like a cork.

"I'm… happy… to see you…too Feliciana." Anniliese managed, the younger but ridiculously strong woman released her and she gasped for breath.

"And guess what Miss Edelstein? I made friends with Miss Neve's younger brother! His name is Ludwig! I have a question, if you and Miss Neve were so close when we all lived in Austria how come I never met her or her brother?" Feliciana asked, looking up at Anniliese with ever-so-trusting amber eyes.

_So that's why she doesn't suspect anything, she doesn't just not know _this _Ludwig is the one she was friends with as a child; she doesn't remember _her_ Ludwig at all._ Anniliese realised, she supposed that made sense. Feliciana had only been a young, forgetful child when he'd 'died' and in an effort to protect itself, her mind could very well have blocked out that incident and everything that went with it.

"Err…" Anniliese and Gilberta glanced at each other and looked away uncomfortably, "it just never happened," Anniliese said lamely, hating herself for the lie. But it was Gilberta's call. And if she said she wasn't ready to tell her younger brother that the life he had forgotten in that car accident was right in front of him, then Ludwig wasn't going to find out. It was as simple as that. She tried to catch Elvo's eye to see if he had finally realised the truth but he was staring fixatedly at the rafters over her head.

Luckily Feliciana seemed to accept that, she shrugged nonchalantly and opened her mouth, then:  
"FELICIANA VARGAS! ANTONIO FERNANDEZ CARRIEDO!" A female voice yelled, causing everyone to jump, Lovina popped her head in, "I'm glad the Austrian bitch is back but if you don't hurry up I am leaving without you. I have a dance performance to get to and you both promised you'd be there. _You promised."_

"Coming Lovi!" Feliciana called, she hugged Anniliese one last time and then scampered off, yelling a goodbye.

Antonio moved forwards and hugged Anniliese too, "I was hoping we could catch up again too Anna, maybe next time, no?"

"Definitely, it's wonderful to see you again Antonio," Anniliese said warmly. Her embarrassment to be in the same room as her ex-boyfriend was overshadowed by her pleasure in seeing him again. They had parted on amiable terms and though she no longer held romantic feelings for him, Anniliese was glad to have the happy-go-lucky Spaniard in her life again. He was just one of those people who brightened up the whole room by smiling.

"Good luck with your performance Lovina!" Anniliese called as Antonio raced out the door. The Italian's expression softened slightly.

"Thanks," then her head disappeared as she ran off with her sister and secret crush.

"Okay." Gilberta moved forwards, "is there something between you and Tony? Explain."

"A few years after you left I took an exchange trip to Spain, I stayed with Antonio because I already knew him. He was Lovina's foster brother after all. Antonio and I dated for the majority of my time there. When I had to go back to Austria we broke up and lost contact. It was nothing serious but I still consider him a close friend." Anniliese explained. Her memories of her time in Spain were fond ones… except for that dreadful coffee.

Gilberta whistled, "You two dated? I'll be dammed, I thought it was seriously freaky when I brought Ludwig here and found Felici and Lovi here but to think you'd actually been dating my closest friend and he never even said anything! That bastard!"

"I take it you and Antonio are close now?" Anniliese asked.

"Oh yeah, he, Francis and I are a team. Francis is the blond Frenchy you told off earlier, which was great by the way." She glanced at her phone and then grabbed Anniliese's phone from her desk.

"What are you-?" Anniliese asked, then Gilberta handed her phone back.

"I gotta bounce too, Luddy's waiting for me, but call me sometime and we'll catch up!"

"Sure," Anniliese took her phone back.

Gilberta grinned and hugged her, then Elvo, before running out the door with a wave. Anniliese sighed; she really wanted to sit down.

Elvo smiled and pried Anniliese's phone out of tired fingers, he entered his number in it also and handed it back. "I can tell you really want a break now so I'll let you go now. Call me too sometime," he said, green eyes twinkling.

"You don't have to leave," Anniliese said, she didn't want 'a break,' just to sit down.

Elvo smiled, "no. I have to work soon. I should get going." He turned to leave.

"Wait." Anniliese caught his sleeve, "I want to talk to you about Gilberta and Ludwig, he-"

"I know," Elvo said gently. "Our Luddy survived after all."

Anniliese blinked, "oh. Gilberta said you didn't know."

Elvo chuckled and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "it wasn't exactly hard to figure out."

"Yes. I'm a little surprised Feliciana doesn't remember but maybe it's best she doesn't know until Gilberta's ready to tell Ludwig. She hasn't told him becau-"

Elvo covered his ears with his hands, "don't wanna know! That's why I haven't told Gilberta I remember, she'll tell everyone when she's ready." He lowered his hands and winked, "anyway, I'll see you Wednesday, feel free to call me whenever."

"Alright." Anniliese sighed, this meant she had to get back to work, "Goodbye Elvo. I'll see you then, don't be late."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he hugged Anniliese and walked to the doorway where he paused, "oh, and I want to play Scar."

Anniliese smiled wryly and waved back, "I think you might have to fight for that role Elvo."

He laughed again and twirled the frying pan Anniliese swore he hadn't been holding a second ago, "not a problem," he said ominously, "not a problem." He was starting to scare Anniliese.

With a roll of her eyes she waved him outside, he closed the door behind him with a soft _click_. The moment Anniliese heard that click she walked over to her desk and collapsed in the teacher's chair she hadn't used. She'd been on her feet since 8:30 until now. It felt like it had been far longer and far shorter at the same time.

With a sigh Anniliese pulled her phone out of her pocket, she was going to learn the names and faces of every single one of her students even if it killed her. Whether they were ridiculously long Finnish names or not. And then… Anniliese groaned, and then she was going to figure out how to direct a musical.

Another sigh, "it never ends does it?" She murmured to herself.

"I suppose not." Vash replied.

With a small scream Anniliese jumped up, upsetting her chair so it crashed to the floor, she ignored it.  
"Mr. Zwingli!... er… Vash, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you have gone home by now?" She asked, heart beating fast.

Truthfully she had _completely_ forgotten that Vash was there, he had been completely silent while she talked with Gilberta, Feliciana, Antonio and Elvo. Standing, unmoving near the back, he had blended in with the wall. Anniliese had forgotten he had stayed at all.

"You still look tired, are you alright?" Vash asked, keeping his spot beside the wall.

Anniliese smiled, blushing slightly, "I'm very well thank you, there won't be a repeat of the other day." And now she was back to wanting to crawl into a hole.

Vash sighed, "I don't even know why I waited, I'm going home!" He stormed out of the room.

Anniliese smiled again, that was weird, but after spending an hour and a half with that class it didn't even bother her anymore.

Hardening her resolve she pressed a few buttons on her phone, next lesson things were going to be different.

* * *

Tuesday morning Anniliese called Rome Vargas. She had prepared her argument and was ready to argue her case and defend her decision, she had promised these students a deal and she never would have offered the contract if she knew for certain she wouldn't be able to deliver.

She might get fired the moment Rome could find someone to replace her, but she was going to try her hardest to come through.

"Good morning Headmaster Vargas, I hope I'm not interrupting something," Anniliese said smoothly when Rome picked up.

He chuckled, "hello Annie, what perfect timing, I just got out of a meeting. How did your first day go?"

"Wonderfully. I have such a unique class," replied the Austrian female, before jumping straight to the point. "A unique class deserves unique methods of teaching? Do you not agree?"

"Oh yes I do! I'm glad you're catching on so quickly!" Rome said enthusiastically. Anniliese smirked; he'd look like a total hypocrite if he refused her now.

"Why thank you sir," she smiled, "I'm glad you agree because I-"

Rome cut her off, "-don't wanna know."

"Huh?" Anniliese asked articulately, this man always seemed to throw her off balance.

"I will back you up if you get in trouble with the law. Other than that I don't wanna know what you're doing. If you tell me, it just means more work for me and I'm lazy. I said you were free to do whatever you want and I meant it!"

_In trouble with the law? What does he think I'm doing?! _Anniliese wondered. "Well, um, if you're sure…" She said hesitantly.

"Completely. Now if you'll excuse me Annie dearest I'm off to heckle my oldest granddaughter, unless there's something else?"

"No that's it," sighed Anniliese. "Goodbye headmaster." She told the eccentric man.

"See ya soon Annie!" He trilled, then hung up.

Anniliese lowered the phone and sighed again. "Don't call me that,' she told the phone.

The phone was a phone.

"You know you've basically given me permission to sell these students on the black market if I think that will help them open up." She continued, setting her hands on her hips and glaring at the phone.

The phone was a phone.

"I don't know what you're up to but rest assured, I will get these students to open up. I'll teach them something too." She vowed, frown still firmly in place.

The phone was a phone.

"Do you see me standing here talking to myself, I've only 'taught' one lesson and I'm already going insane!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air.

The phone was a phone.

Anniliese growled slightly and rubbed her brow. She was going for a walk; she'd been cooped up inside her house for far too long.

"You just wait and see," she told the phone darkly, before sweeping out of the room with all the grace and air of a Queen.

The poor phone was still just a phone.

* * *

**I am so sorry about this chapter. I don't even…ugh, don't look at me, I'm a disgrace! There was absolutely nothing interesting in this chapter. And it was shorter than the others too. But that's probably not a bad thing. OMG I am so sorry. R & R please people, that makes me so happy, it might even make my chapters suck less in the future…**

**There was one good thing about this chapter though. It got all of the explanations out of the way. You know what that means? Nothing but Plot from now on! Full Plot ahead!**


	7. Her Beginning

**Hello my dears! I know it hasn't been very long but there's a reason for that. I'm writing 3 different fanfiction currently and I always seem to update them all on the same day. It's annoying. So I've decided that I'll update Austria's Musical every Tuesday, My Love Lies every Thursday and Her Series Of Unfortunate Events every Sunday.**

**As always, a thousand thank-yous to Acrnavy and Hornet394 for reviewing. You guys are so amazing, even if my last chapter was so awful it didn't deserve your amazing reviews.**

**My dear Acrnavy, I have many, many special things planned for Elvo, I am just deciding which ones to use. Male or female Hungary is an amazing character and I hope to do him/her justice. If you have any preferences that you would like to see happen let me know and I'll see what I can do.**

**Wonderful Hornet394, you make an interesting point. What _would_ SpainxAustria be called? I personally liked 'Spatria' of all the ones you listed; it has a nice ring to it. Your idea about the frying pan was classic, I found it very amusing. Not sure what you meant by 'give Switzy a chance' though…**

**Wow! That was a long author's note! Enjoy and R & R people. I don't own! **

* * *

Chapter 7: Her Beginning

Wednesday morning Anniliese awoke right on time. She pulled her hair back into a bun, picked out her clothes and put on a little make-up at her leisure. Collecting the folder of notes she had gathered over the past few days she strolled out of her door, exactly on time. She smiled, _today will be different._

Once Anniliese reached her school she chatted with the other teachers and professors for a while, she quickly became fond of a few of them, including Mr. Brown, the poor man who had to teach Gilberta, Antonio and Francis _at the same time._ Anniliese sympathised.

An old lady teacher touched her arm, "are they giving you a hard time dearie? It's nothing to be ashamed of, that class goes through more teachers in a term then the others do in a year."

"Do they?" Anniliese inquired, "Why is that?"

The woman chuckled kindly, "dearie those students are horrors to every 'help' teacher they've ever gotten, that's why half of them are still in that class. The longest any teacher has lasted with them was half a term and even she left when that Beilschmidt _terror_ and her two boyfriends dumped a bucket of Maple syrup with _red food dye _in it and _chicken feathers_ over her head when she walked out the door."

"She had military training and everything, and even she refused to set foot back into that classroom, even after she found out the syrup and dye wasn't real blood." Another woman named Miss Hownwyn added.

"Huh," Anniliese said thoughtfully, no one had told_ her_ that. "They were complete angels for me Monday."

"Then they're playing you dearie," the old lady said firmly. "That class accepts no-one."

"Can't really blame them though," a male teacher mumbled, "I'd hate to be in that class." Anniliese had always thought the same thing.

"I know Gilberta and some of the others, Antonio included, and they're not bad people, I think they'll at least be civil to me." She murmured. The three teachers looked unconvinced.

"Well, if you say so dearie," the old lady mumbled dubiously.

"By the way, when you said 'her two boyfriends' were you talking about Gilberta Beilschmidt, Antonio Fernandez Carriedo and Francis Bonnefoy or Gilberta, Antonio and Elvo Héderváry?" Anniliese asked out of curiosity.

The old lady scoffed, "Bonnefoy, definitely. There's no way someone as sweet as Elvo Héderváry would get mixed up in something like that. I'm still surprised Antonio hangs out with Bonnefoy and that _girl,_ he's such a nice young man and they're just bad influences!"

_Well I'd be a bitch too if you kept referring to _me_ as 'that girl,'_ Anniliese thought. Though she was probably pretty biased due to knowing Gilberta and knowing she wasn't an all-bad person.

The male teacher chuckled again, "I dunno, I wouldn't call Elvo 'sweet.' Did you hear what he threatened to do to Nikolai Braginski when he was harassing Gilberta Beilschmidt?"

"No," said Anniliese and the other female teachers together, leaning forwards. The male teacher just chuckled and shook his head, but didn't say anything.

_Nikolai Braginski, isn't that Ivan's younger brother?_ Anniliese wondered, recognising his name from the files she'd memorised.

Apparently Nikolai was supposed to be in her class too but Rome decided to keep him out due to the unnerving things he threatened to do to teachers that got between him and his beloved older brother. And the fact that Ivan Braginski was scared to death of his younger brother.

Checking the time on her phone, Anniliese rose, "well, I must be off. My students all promised to be on time so I must do the same."

The male teacher, whose name Anniliese still didn't know, snorted and rose with her. "Getting all of them to class at all is impossible, you can forget getting them all there on time." He said.

The old lady laughed, Anniliese suppressed her scowl, she was really beginning to dislike that old lady. She was nice enough to Anniliese but why would anyone get a job teaching if they hated students? Anniliese would never know.

"Maybe if you only set them minimal expectations they will only meet those minimal expectations." Anniliese said sharply. The old lady stopped laughing.

"You're hopeful." Miss Hownwyn mumbled, peering down her nose at the younger woman.

Mr. Brown however, clapped his hands, "well said girl." He told Anniliese. She smiled at him.

The other male teacher whose name Anniliese hadn't been told held the door open for her, holding her head up high Anniliese walked through it. She was going to decide what these students were like for herself thank-you-very-much.

The male teacher chuckled, "I'll walk you to your classroom, I want to see just how many of your 'angelic' students show up."

"Do as you will," Anniliese said coolly, even if not one person showed up she wouldn't let this man belittle her, he might think her, the new girl, as foolish and naïve, but by the same token she found him pessimistic and insufferable. Only time would tell which one of them was right, maybe they both were, but Anniliese was going to hold onto the hope that he was the one in the wrong.

They were just about to round the corner to the door of Anniliese's classroom and there was not a single student in sight. The man sniggered, "well Miss Edelstein, I think you might-"

He rounded the corner and broke off, staring.

All twenty-one of Anniliese's students stared back.

Anniliese smiled.

* * *

Back in the staff room the two female teachers were snickering to themselves, both loved their jobs, truly they did, but that class was awful and the naive _child _who only played by the book and thought she could teach it was even worse.

Little did they know that while Anniliese might be young and did indeed think she could teach this class, she was far from being naïve or a child.

And she didn't play by the book.

* * *

Outside Anniliese's classroom stood a male teacher, whose name was actually Mr. Jones. He was staring in amazement at the spot where Anniliese's students were standing. Or where Anniliese's students had been standing, they'd taken their teacher inside and were now engaged in an emphatic debate involving flying papers, raised voices and swishing frying pans. It looked rowdy; it looked like the young lady was unable to control her class. But the teacher and every single one of her students had a smile on their faces.

Mr. Jones blinked in shock, "my God," he whispered, "maybe this kid actually has a chance." And for the first time in a long time, he thought of the Help Class and smiled.

* * *

"But I wanted to play Scar," sighed Francis Bonnefoy, a twenty-one year old French male who had moved to America to stay with his most beloved person, his next-door neighbour Arthurine Kirkland. Francis had lost both his parents in a murder-suicide when he was nineteen and now used over-dramatic dialogue and flirting to hide his phobia of getting close to anyone, with a few exceptions, of course.

"Scar? You? With that accent you Frog?" Asked one of those exceptions, green eyes flashing. Arthurine 'Alice' Kirkland, Francis's next door neighbour asked. Arthurine -why she went by 'Alice' Anniliese had no idea- Kirkland was a seventeen year old British girl who had lived next to Francis in London her whole life but had left England to study in America for a few years.

Her official reason was for the learning experience but unofficially Rome had added that it was more likely she was here to be with her ex-stepbrothers Alfred and Matthew Williams-Jones (but mostly Alfred).

Arthurine's mother had died in childbirth with her younger brother Peter and her father had re-married Gina Williams when Arthurine was six. After they had split when Arthurine was sixteen Alfred, Matthew and Gina had moved back to America so the boys could be near their biological father. Matthew had kept in contact with the girl who he had grown up with and considered a sister for almost eleven years but Alfred had decided that it would be better to cut off all contact with the Kirklands now that they would no longer legally be considered family.

This made Anniliese, a huge believer that blood didn't make family, scoff in disapproval, but hey, it wasn't her decision to make. After almost a year of fruitlessly trying to contact Alfred, Arthurine got their address from Matthew and decided she'd go down to see them. There was no-one to stop her, Arthurine's father had died of a heart attack three months after he divorced his wife and her custodian, her oldest brother Alistair, was in Scotland.

When Francis had found out that his living emotional crutch was leaving he decided to go with her, having an adult with his baby sister took away any doubts Alistair had and so Arthurine had taken a scholarship for Hetalia High and Francis for the joint University. Immediately upon doing so they found themselves in Anniliese's 'Help Class.' This was where they were currently standing.

"Ma Cherie, I can be very evil." Francis said with a wink.

Arthurine rolled her eyes and tossed one of her blonde pigtails back from her face, "of that I have no doubt but with that accent of yours you'll be laughed off the stage. _By me._ And don't call me that you bloody Frog."

Francis held a hand to his chest dramatically, "Angleterra my dearest you wound me." 'Angleterra' or 'England,' in English, was one of Francis's favourite pet names for Arthurine, along with 'ma Cherie/my dear,' 'ma amour/my love' and practically every generic cutesy name on the planet, Anniliese soon discovered.

"I would give you the role, really I would Francis, you seem like such a dramatic person I have no doubts you can act, I'm just a little afraid that Elvo will beat you around the head with a frying pan if I do." Anniliese explained.

Elvo, who had indeed been creeping up behind Francis with a raised frying pan whipped the pan behind his back and smiled innocently at Anniliese, a slight blush coating his cheeks. Arthurine laughed, Francis turned to look behind him and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw Elvo standing there. Elvo gave him a sheepish smile. Francis moved three seats forwards. Needless to say that Elvo ended up playing Scar.

* * *

Anniliese spent the rest of her day casting her students, fortunately there were enough characters with speaking roles for everyone who wanted one to have one.

Elvo got the role of Scar after scaring Francis half to death. After that the only person brave (or stupid) enough to object was Yao Wang, the Asian male from the other day who had thought himself too old for Disney films.

At twenty-five he _was_ the oldest person in the class, orphaned at eighteen he practically raised all of his foster siblings by himself, Kiku Honda, the eighteen year old Japanese girl included. Though Yao and his siblings all came from different places in Asia they had all grown up in America, which Anniliese supposed made sense given China's one-child-only rule. Apparently having to deal with six unruly siblings had made Yao an incredibly brave (or stupid) person.

When Elvo threatened him with a frying pan Yao retaliated by threatening Elvo with a _wok_ Anniliese had _not _seen him carry into the classroom and certainly hadn't been there beforehand. It was cooking utensils at ten paces after that.

Anniliese spent a good twenty minutes trying to break up that fight as the two guys hurled good-natured abuse at each other while trying to crack open the other person's skull. Anniliese actually found herself almost laughing as she tried to pull them apart without getting hit in the face.

Eventually she just gave up and asked Ivan, Yao's Russian best friend (and part-time stalker but let's not go there), to break up the fight. Cheerfully he did so by picking Elvo up by the back of his shirt and dumping him in what had now been unofficially dubbed 'the naughty corner.'

He then picked up Yao and set the small male on top of the large and ridiculously heavy bookshelf standing forgotten in one corner where it took the poor man a good ten more minutes to get down without breaking anything, himself included.

After that things proceeded smoothly.

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At the end of the lesson Anniliese sat down at her desk with a sigh, just like she had on Monday, only this time there were no socially-awkward Swiss students lurking in the background.

Vash had been at the lesson, of course, but Anniliese didn't think he'd said a word the whole time; he only nodded wordlessly when Anniliese offered him a backup role.

Then when the lesson had ended he'd left the classroom before Anniliese could say anything to him. That didn't seem too odd; according to his profile Vash worked two jobs to support himself and his foster sister Lili and always had to be at work.

Vash had been adopted by Lili's family when he was twelve, orphaned at three by reasons unknown, Rome Vargas hadn't been kidding when he'd said most of these kids were orphans. Then at fifteen Vash had been orphaned again when his foster father had been shot and mugged in an alley one night, his foster mother dying two years previously from breast cancer.

Really, Anniliese wondered, how much bad luck could one boy have? After that Vash and Lili got lost in the system and, after Vash got a track scholarship to Hetalia high and Lili got a music one, the siblings had moved into a nice apartment right next to the school.

At least Vash's house wouldn't be hard to find if Anniliese ever had to go looking for him.

Anniliese sighed and drummed her fingers on the desk,_ this 'musical' is going well but how am I supposed to help any of these kids with their problems if I can't even deal with_ my_ family issues? _She wondered.

Seeing all of these students without parents made Anniliese feel guilty for mistreating the one she had left but the fact of the matter was that Anniliese's mother Maria wasn't any nicer to her daughter then Anniliese was to her. Still, they might not get along but Anniliese did worry about her often-overworked mother.

However, Maria did have a bunch of incredibly loyal staff and family around her so she would probably be well taken care of but Anniliese had been meaning to call her mother, or even write her a letter when she got a job to let her know she was alright. Just in case Maria_ had_ been worrying about her only child.

Anniliese wasn't sure she would, the practical side of her, who knew Maria, was sure the older woman had banished Anniliese from her thoughts all together. But the daughter side of her, who knew her mother, still hoped.

Anniliese pulled her phone out of her dress pocket and stared at it for a while before sighing again and pocketing it. _What am I doing?_ She wondered.

_What am I _doing?

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**Ok yeah, I know, 'Arthurine' isn't usually one of the names used for fem!England but I actually know someone with that name so I know it's a real name and it's about as female-version-of-Arthur as you're ever going to get. Her being nicknamed 'Alice' however is, well… not a plot point exactly, but there is reason behind it. Besides, most of the characters will call her Alice anyway so if it bothers you, you don't have to worry much. Either way, it's highly irrelevant to the story.**

**If there's anything you don't understand just ask.**

**Quick question China/wok vs Hungary/frying pan, who wins? Hypothetically, of course.**

**Hee hee things are going well for our little protagonist, aren't they, wonder how long that's going to last?**

**P.S; I need a better name then the 'Help class,' can anyone think of something?**

**P.P.S; hope you enjoyed.**


	8. Their Thoughts

**Hey guys! Guess what? I finally figured out how to reply to reviews! (I'm stupid, don't judge me…) But I'll answer here unless you tell me otherwise or there's a spoiler.  
**

**Many thanks to the wonderful BlueFeatherStar and guest reviewer sun-on-the-shelf, and, of course, the amazing Acrnavy and Hornet394 who both made interesting points about the frying pan vs wok question, for reviewing, you guys rock! **

**sun-on-the-shelf, thank you for telling me! I had no idea! I will remember that in future and change my past chapters…eventually. NOT FUNNY GOOGLE TRANSLATE! Actually, it is kind of funny, I'm laughing. Hee hee. Anyway, glad you like the idea.**

**Acrnavy, your idea was very interesting; I'll have to think on it.**

**BlueFeatherStar, what a nice thing to say! And of course there will be sweetie!**

**And last but not least Hornet394, I completely agree with your statement about Austria & Switzy! And I'm glad you picked up on that about Mr. Jones, no, it is not just a coincidence :) **

**Also many, many thanks to peterpennykirkland for following and favoriting this story. Welcome to the family! .**

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Chapter 8: Their Thoughts

"Luka! Start on the lioness suits, you're on girl-costume duty!" Mathias yelled, ignoring his fiancée, Luka's, grumbling.

"Emil, get your mind out of the gutter and start on that bird suit!" Emil, Luka's younger brother, who had been staring out the window at Leon Wang's slender, muscled, _shirtless_ form as his class played volleyball snapped back to attention.

Hearing Mathias's yell Leon glanced into their classroom, his brown eyes locked onto Emil's violet-blue ones. Emil turned scarlet and dropped his gaze, picking up a costume and frantically beginning to sew. He didn't see it, but Leon smirked for a brief second before returning to his volleyball game.

"Berwald!" Mathias pointed at his younger brother who glowered at him as if to silently say 'I'm under no obligation to do what you say.' Mathias pointed at a bunch of material lying twisted on a table nearby, "you're working with me!"

"Tina!" The tiny Finnish student beamed back at him, a huge smile on her slender features. Mathias ran a hand through his blond hair and shivered, "Good God you scare the piss out of me," he muttered. Tina just smiled.

Mathias just turned back to the others, "right! Get back to work! If that little she-demon gets to intimidate me and boss _me_ around I'm going to make all of _your _lives a living hell!" Luka, Emil and even Berwald began working furiously, Tina just smiled.

Mathias Køhler, Berwald Oxenstierna, Tina Väinämöinen and Luka and Emil Bondervik were the five blond(ish) students that had arrived first to Anniliese's class on Monday. Mathias, the outgoing blond male with the scruffy hair was Berwald's (the guy with the blond hair, glasses and scary expression) older brother.

The two had different surnames due to Berwald being raised in Sweden by their mother and Mathias being raised in Denmark by their father but they seemed close, always hanging out together. Though things like feelings and emotions were hard to tell with Berwald.

Luka, the woman in the sailor outfit, and Tina, the violet-eyed Finnish girl with the ridiculously long surname, were best friends. However, the only reason they knew each other now was because Tina was engaged to Berwald and Luka to his brother Mathias. Emil, Luka's silver-haired younger brother just knew them by association.

The only problem with this happy little group was that neither marriage was consensual. On either side.

Neither Luka nor Mathias had wanted to get engaged. Neither had either Tina or Berwald. These marriages were all arranged during their childhoods by their ambitious parents who all owned furniture-making stores in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland respectively and planned to have their children take over one day.

Mathias and Berwald didn't seem bothered by their respective marriages; they had been at first, and who wouldn't be? But truthfully, the moment he had laid eyes on Luka, Mathias had known she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, even if that meant having to put up with her obnoxious brother for the rest of his life.

Secretly Luka had also fallen head over heels for her energetic fiancé but would die before she said so. Even Emil, who didn't like anyone (other than Leon from his ESL class whom he had a massive crush on), had warmed up to Mathias eventually.

Berwald was also obviously smitten with his little fiancée but he just didn't know how to show it. Berwald wasn't a bad guy, he just didn't communicate well. There was only one problem.

Berwald_ terrified_ Tina.

Berwald really was a good man, and Tina knew he was a good man. He just had the scariest expression known to mankind, even worse than Ivan's smile. _Constantly.  
_  
Tina liked Berwald, she liked him a lot. She just wasn't sure she could marry someone whose expression scared the living daylights out of her 24/7/365. That, coupled with the fact that she had never consented to getting married in the first place, made for a very upset Fin and a very hurt Swede.

Part of this Anniliese knew from reading their files and part of this, like Luka and Mathias falling for each other, Tina had told her herself. The energetic Fin was really quite talkative, she had chatted Anniliese's ear off when the Austrian had stopped to give them a hand with the costumes.

Though apparently Tina didn't know about Berwald being in love with her, _that_ certain piece of information had been breathed into Anniliese's ear by a smirking Mathias when both Tina and Berwald weren't looking.

Anniliese wasn't sure what Mathias hoped to accomplish by telling her this but mulled over the information anyway as she drifted throughout her class making sure everyone was on task.

Anniliese had just opened her mouth to get Vash's attention; the Swiss student was busy working a copy of the script the class was coming up with, when she was distracted by Gilberta and Francis bursting into loud, incredibly fake, 'tears.'

Part of Anniliese's class, like Mathias and his gang, were working on making costumes, most of the class, like Vash, were working on scripts.

Part of the class however, mainly those with important roles like Antonio, Gilberta and Francis, were practicing their lines. Antonio and Lovina had just finished practicing 'can you feel the love tonight?' and Gilberta and Francis, as Pumba(Gilberta) and Timon(Francis), were required to start crying at the thought of their friend growing up and falling in love.

Anniliese didn't think their feelings and tears were 100% false, Gilberta, Antonio and Francis were a team and people didn't call them the 'Bad Touch Trio' for no reason.

Confident, vivacious and exotically attractive Gilberta and blond, blue-eyed, _French _and flirty Francis, who was equally exotic and attractive, were the most sought-after girl and guy in the entire university-high school campus. Every guy wanted Gilberta, every girl wanted to be her, every girl wanted Francis, and every guy wanted him dead.

Anniliese smiled as she saw tiny, stubborn Arthurine bossing Francis around, making sure he stayed on task, well, _almost _every girl wanted Francis.

Antonio on the other hand was, well to Americans anyway, exotic. He was also incredibly attractive, nice, funny, outgoing, bright and just a general all-round nice guy it was impossible to dislike. Unless you were Berwald. Or the assistant P.E coach Lars, who both hated the Spaniard for some reason. But most people loved him.

However Antonio was so obviously, irrevocably in love with Lovina that the girls who would have otherwise flocked around him didn't even bother. For the most part anyway, if one or two girls _did _try to steal Antonio away from Lovina the tsundre Italian would kick their asses. And if she didn't, Gilberta would, the outgoing German wouldn't let anything get in the way of her best friend's happiness. Antonio was completely oblivious. He was an understanding, considerate guy, but when it came to his love life, he saw no-one other than Lovina. Anniliese couldn't say she hadn't seen it coming.

This meant that when Francis and Gilberta went out drinking and hitting on people Antonio never joined in, he went with them, he just never joined in. He wasn't much of a drinker, according to him, he became someone he didn't like when he got drunk, and he never flirted with anyone. _This _meant Gilberta and Francis saw his feelings for Lovina with both joy and dismay, making their acting in the song absolutely _superb._

Anniliese rolled her eyes as she saw Elvo run up to Gilberta and scoop her up into his arms, joking about her tears, as he did so. Gilberta laughed as Elvo set her slight frame on his shoulder and the two of them came over to Anniliese.

"What did ya think Anna?" Gilberta asked, red eyes sparkling. Whether this was from the singing or sitting on Elvo's shoulder, Anniliese didn't know.

"I actually wasn't listening." She admitted, "I only saw the end, but it looked very impressive. You and Francis seemed very… candid."

Gilberta crinkled her nose, "speak a language I know too."

"She means you were sincere." Elvo translated softly.

Gilberta rolled her eyes, "why can't you people just _say _that. God I hate English."

"Elvo, why are you carrying Gilberta around on your shoulder?" Anniliese asked, it wasn't as though the girl was incapable of walking on her own.

Elvo looked surprised, he and Gilberta glanced at each other, "I'm not really sure," he admitted, "I just felt like it." Shrugging, he set Gilberta down.

"Well Toni, Lovina, Francis and I are going to practice again, you gonna watch this one?" She asked Anniliese, who nodded and made to follow her.

"I can't do it! I just can't do it! I'm stupid and worthless!" A voice with a Canadian accent cried. Anniliese whipped around to see Matthew Williams-Jones slumped in his seat, draft in front of him, perilously close to tears.

His brother Alfred and ex-stepsister Arthurine were both kneeling beside him and seemed to be offering words of comfort, Alfred was rubbing Mathew's back while Arthurine clasped his hand reassuringly. Anniliese had read in Matthew's file that he occasionally had panic attacks and minor breakdowns as a result from being neglected by his parents in his childhood.

"Hold that thought," Anniliese murmured to her childhood friends as she swiftly walked over to Matthew, she wasn't 100% sure what she was doing, but was she _ever_ with this class?

Reaching the distraught boy Anniliese knelt down beside him, "Matthew, listen to me." She said calmly and firmly. "You are not stupid. If there's something you don't get, don't force yourself. You can always come back later and you have people who would love to help you. Alfred and Arthurine would love to help you, so would I and_ you are not worthless. _Alright?"

Matthew pulled off his glasses so his tear-filled eyes could stare into Anniliese's better. "R-really?"

Anniliese slid her glasses down her nose also so her violet eyes could meet Matthew's, "really." She said firmly.

Matthew looked up at his brother and 'sister' for confirmation, "Al?" He asked his brother. Alfred smiled and nodded, giving his brother's shoulder a squeeze. "Al?" He asked again, this time looking at Arthurine, she hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead like a mother would her child.

"We're all here for you Mattie," she whispered comfortingly.

He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his mop of golden hair, "okay guys, thanks." He said, voice raspy, he looked at Anniliese with apologetic, thankful puppy dog eyes. "Can I go get a drink?" He asked.

Anniliese smiled reassuringly, "of course you can Matthew. Would you like someone to go with you?" Matthew nodded gratefully and glanced at Alfred who grinned back and punched his brother's arm gently.

As the two of them left to get a drink from one of the nearby fountains Arthurine touched Anniliese's arm, "thank you," she said sincerely, "normally Alfred, Francis or I can talk him round but it takes so much longer, I'm glad you were here."

"Happy to help, it's what I'm here for," Anniliese said. She excused herself from the conversation when she saw Gilberta waving her over.

"Is Matthew alright?" The albino asked when Anniliese came over.

"He will be fine, Alfred is just taking him to get a drink and calm down a little." Anniliese replied, all three of them looked relieved.

"Good," Francis breathed, "he is a good kid; he shouldn't have to deal with this." That made Anniliese remember that Francis, being Arthurine's neighbor for life, would have also been Matthew's neighbor for a good part of his life.

Antonio grinned, "at least he doesn't have to deal with a bad Help teacher this year." The three of them exchanged knowing smirks and Anniliese remembered what they had done to the previous Help teacher. If she pissed these three off she had better start checking before she went through doorways.

"Why did you-?" Anniliese began. Then bell went, that _thing_ was always cutting her off, she hated it more than she (unreasonably) hated her landline, the device she saw as the reason for all of her troubles with Rome Vargas. And didn't she have a_ lot_ of those!

"Bye Anna!" Gilberta, probably knowing what Anniliese had been about to ask, threw herself into the brunette's arms for a second before dashing off, snagging Ludwig on her way out. Feliciana chased after them, yelling a goodbye to everyone in the room, Lovina chased after her, yelling at Antonio to hurry his lazy ass up.

Chuckling, Antonio picked a violently protesting Anniliese up, spun her around and kissed her on the forehead and said goodbye before chasing after his soul mate and her sister.

Francis bid Anniliese goodbye and kissed the back of her hand before also running off. He ran up to Arthurine, who had almost managed to make it out the door. He chivalrously took her books and schoolbag before linking arms with her and walking off. The Brit grumbled but made no other protests, she knew Francis well enough to know it would do her absolutely no good.

At the door they were met by Alfred and Matthew who had just been coming back, after the twins had grabbed their stuff the four of them walked off together, laughing and arguing loudly. Anniliese couldn't help but laugh lightly as she wiped the back of her hand on her reddish-purple dress.

"Matthew's the reason you know." Elvo told her.

"Matthew's the reason for what? And don't you have somewhere you need to be? Chasing after Gilberta, perhaps?" Anniliese asked in return.

"Matthew's the reason Gila, Francis and Antonio poured dye, syrup and feathers on that teacher. You've heard about that I presume? And I _don't _chase after Gilberta." A light blush tainted Elvo's cheeks at his last sentence.

Anniliese snickered lightly and moved to her desk as she did after every lesson, she very rarely sat down during class, it was very hands-on and she liked to supervise, so it was a relief to get of her feet at the end of each lesson.

Anniliese breathed a silent sigh of relieve as she sat down, _God I don't get paid enough to do this amount of work._ She wouldn't have her class any other way though.

"I'll ignore the obvious lie about you and Gilberta and concentrate on what else you said," she told Elvo, ignoring his splutters, "why is Matthew the reason Gilberta, Antonio and Francis pored syrup on that hapless woman's head?"

"I am not lying and she wasn't 'hapless,' she got what was coming to her." The companion of Anniliese's childhood replied. "She was… strict, to put it mildly, she seemed to think that the only way to manage this class was with a total Dictatorship. One day she was yelling at Matthew for being a 'wuss'-I kid you not- and Alfred told her to back off, he told her about Matthew's anxiety. So naturally the bit-er… _big meanie_, shouted at Matthew even more, she threw Arthurine out of the classroom when she tried to protest and ended up reducing Matthew to tears."

He brushed down his forest-green shirt and stuck a hand in the pocket of his slacks, scowling. "That was when we all knew she had to go. Gila, Antonio and Francis were just the ones to do it."

Anniliese shook her head, "they went about it the wrong way," she informed Elvo, _good for them, not a moment too soon._

Elvo seemed almost to read her thoughts, "is that what you _want_ to say or what you _should_ say," he teased. Hugging her he walked to the door, "gotta run, I'm not chasing Gilberta but I do have to work, see you next lesson!" He ran off.

Anniliese was just waving goodbye when she got a message. From Rome Vargas. It was only one line.

**You're getting a new student.**

Anniliese raised an eyebrow, well, this could be interesting.

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**Wow. Longest chapter so far, exactly 4 pages, not counting the authors notes. Who's her new student going to be? Virtual cookies for anyone who can guess! Let me know what you think guys. This is Sode no Shirayuki 1411 signing off to do the ridiculous amount of homework on her desk!... Or not... Ciao! **


	9. Her Problem

**Ok, where to begin?! As always, love and thanks must go out to Acrnavy and Hornet394 for reviewing! You guys rock!**

**Hornet394, I'm glad you thought it was funny, I'm updating just like you said.**

**Acrnavy! Don't face-palm! You were right! Austria's new student is…!**

**Anyway, many thanks must also go out to Bumblekat and AnimeFANforeverMORE for following and favoriting and ShushI'mAReaderInBed for following! You guys are amazing!**

**I don't own, but you guys knew that already.**

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Chapter 9: Her Problem

Anniliese's new student arrived the next Monday, the second he did Anniliese felt her carefully laid plans unravel around her and trip her up like an old carpet.

It wasn't that Dimitri was a bad kid, he wasn't, he just refused to work with her. Nope, point-blank refusal. Dimitri listened patently to everything Anniliese had to say, quietly and politely, his red eyes never leaving hers.

When she had finished he smiled, mischief dancing in his eyes, his one overly-long canine tooth poking over his lower lip, "that sounds like an interesting idea, Miss Edelstein, not many teachers would have approached this subject the way you did, I'm impressed." Like 98% of her class he had a strong accent that wasn't American, Anniliese thought it might be Bulgarian or Romanian but she wasn't quite sure.

"However, I doubt this little plan of yours will turn out quite the way you want it to. And since I'd really rather not waste my own time this way I'm leaving, goodbye."

He stood, adjusting the cute little hat that sat on an alarming angle on one side of his head, picked up his satchel that was on the floor by his feet and headed for the door.

"Dimitri wait," Anniliese got out of her chair and hurried after him, two things caused her actions, and both of those things were motivated by concern for Dimitri. The first one was that, whether he liked it or not, Dimitri was part of her class now, and Anniliese had an emotional investment (actually several, named Elvo, Gilberta, Feliciana, Ludwig, Antonio and Lovina) in helping this class. And whether _she_ liked it or not, Dimitri was now part of this class. That meant she was determined to help him too.

The other thing was that she had sworn to her students that she would let them all leave if everyone passed and participated. Everyone. And now that he was a part of their class, which meant Dimitri too. And the other students knew it.

Already the new boy was getting suspicious looks from a few students, Elvo, Arthurine, Luka and her brother Emil in particular. If Dimitri failed this class by refusing to co-operate then Anniliese didn't even want to think about what the other students would do to him.

Already Gilberta, Francis and Antonio had their heads together and were eying Dimitri distrustfully. Well Gilberta was anyway, Antonio was arguing in the boy's defence, as Anniliese had known he would, and Francis just seemed to be along for kicks.

"Dimitri please, how could you possibly know if this will work out or not if you don't even try? Look at everyone else, they believe it, and I doubt twenty-three intelligent young adults will all be wrong so why shouldn't it work?"

Dimitri turned, hand on the doorknob, and glared at Anniliese, "because for this to work you would have to keep your promises and actually give a damn about this class." He hissed, but he did it quietly, even now he had enough decency to keep his voice down and not start a confrontation with her in front of the whole class.

"And what makes you so sure I don't care?" Anniliese asked levelly, also keeping her voice down.

Dimitri snickered softly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his red coat, "why should you? No one else has."

"I'm not 'no one else,'" Anniliese said crisply, "_I _am the teacher now and _I_ am choosing to see this through, as is the rest of this class. You'll never know if I care or not if you don't stay to see for yourself." She set her hands on her hips, staring at Dimitri steadily.

Dimitri looked at her thoughtfully, "you know, I'd still rather not waste my time but… I dunno, maybe it's the twenty-three other students who believe in you but I almost feel inclined to trust you. Almost." He shrugged, "I'll stay, but only for this lesson, okay."

_Not much, but I'll take it, it's a start,_ thought Anniliese. She nodded, "good why don't you sit by Elvo and help out with the scripts?" She pointed the Hungarian out to the blond and, in doing so, accidentally caused problem number 2 with Dimitri Drakulya.

Elvo, who had been busy writing out his lines over and over again by hand to help him remember them, glanced up at the sound of his name. As he did so, his green eyes met Dimitri's red ones and Anniliese saw a surprising emotion enter them. Hatred. She looked over at Dimitri, puzzled, and saw the exact same expression on his face. It wasn't just hatred, it was unadulterated _loathing._ The two males were glaring at each other with looks that could burn toast.

"I know I said I'd stay but I'd really rather _not_ sit with him if it's all the same to you," Dimitri said acidly, venom in his gaze.

"Do you two know each other?" Asked Anniliese because that would be all she needed, for her newest and most reluctant student to have some sort of long-standing grudge against one of her closest and oldest friends.

Surprisingly, Dimitri shook his head, "I've never seen him before in my life," he said truthfully, "I just hate him for some reason, and from the look on his face I'd say the feeling's mutual."

_Ok, that is really weird…_Thought Anniliese. Mentally she shrugged, "well I don't approve of that sort of mind-set when you two don't even know each other but I guess I'll have a word with the two of you about it later. _Separately._ In the mean time why don't you go sit with Luka and Arthurine, they're overseeing backdrops; they'll find something for you to do."

"Okay, thank you," Dimitri said gratefully, he went to sit with the two blonde girls after Anniliese pointed them out to him. Both females were pretty closed-off people but Dimitri's usual good-humour and charm managed to coax out first Arthurine, then Luka and soon he was chatting amiably with both of them while they showed him already written up scripts and designs.

Anniliese smiled at them then turned to give Elvo a _wtf _look, he shrugged, he had no idea why he'd instinctively disliked the blond either. Something about Dimitri just rubbed him the wrong way and apparently the reverse was true too.

"I dunno what happened," he confessed when Anniliese came over to talk with him, "I just looked over at you and when we made I contact I somehow knew I was destined to hate that guy for the rest of eternity. Have you ever done that Ann? Just looked at someone and known they were destined to be your worst enemy for life?"

"Yes I have," Anniliese said earnestly, "Gilberta. From the moment I looked at her I knew our personalities would never mesh, I knew that we'd always clash and always argue, and we do. She's also my best friend so don't give me those excuses Elvo Hedervary."

Elvo laughed, "fair enough, wait-hey! I thought I was your best friend!"

Anniliese brushed a lock of his caramel-coloured hair back behind his ear. "I consider you family, you can't be my best friend too, that's not fair. Give someone else a chance for once."

Elvo smiled, "ok. And I'll talk to him, that Dimitri guy, I'll see what I can do, maybe we can be friends too."  
He looked over at Dimitri who was working with Arthurine on a backdrop and wrinkled his nose, "then again, maybe we can't." He put on a brave face, "here goes nothing."

He got up and walked over to where Dimitri was sitting and looked over his shoulder, Dimitri turned to him and his posture became wary but not hostile. The two males swapped greetings, Anniliese couldn't hear what they were saying but it didn't seem to be anything beyond the typical 'hi, my name is Elvo Hedervary. Nice to meet you' and 'hi, my name is Dimitri Drakulya, nice to meet you too.'

The two of them exchanged a few more sentences, they seemed okay. Then Elvo said something and all of a sudden Dimitri's body-language changed instantly from wary-yet-relaxing to hostile and defensive. He snapped back at Elvo, whose hands tightened on his frying pan Anniliese believed she saw him pull out of his sleeve. His _elbow-length_ sleeve. Elvo snapped back and their mini-argument continued for another minute or two, with Luka and Arthurine watching, startled, before Elvo stormed back over to his table and Anniliese.

"I hope he freaking dies in a hole," he said shortly, sitting back down, "what a _jerk!"_ And no matter what Anniliese did she couldn't convince him to tell her what had been said. She supposed she could simply go over there and ask Dimitri, Luka or Arthurine directly, but with one look at the scowl on Elvo's handsome, usually sweet, face, she decided she didn't want to know. She sighed and pushed back her own hair.

"Come speak to me at the end of class," she told Elvo, who nodded, eyes cast downwards to the sheets in front of him.

She walked over to the desk of her three biggest trouble-makers and tapped on the desk with a ruler she'd found underneath her own desk, "don't even think about it, if you touch him I swear I will keep this whole class in forever."

Antonio gave her his best innocent look, "who me?" He asked, sweetly.

Anniliese glared, "yes you, and the two of you as well, especially you Gilberta."

"What!" Gilberta sat up straight, letting her chair fall back onto all four legs with a bang, "that's not fair!"

"It's plenty fair, it's also true and you know it," said Anniliese before going off to check on her other students.

She decided to check on Feliks, Tora, and her brothers next. Tora Laurinaitis, her next brother, Eduard von Bock, and their younger brother, Ravis Galante, were all so quiet Anniliese almost forgot they were in her class at all sometimes. Kind of like Matthew, who seemed to have some strange ability to blend into walls like an oversized chameleon.

Feliks on the other hand, was never quiet, currently he was talking Tora's ear off as the two of them worked on costume designs together with Tora's brothers. Feliks was nineteen, at seventeen he had moved from Poland to America with his mother, following her job; there he had met Tora when he was eighteen, at Hetalia High. The two of them had been inseparable ever since and were the 'Help' class's only official couple.

Feliks was noticeable, not only for his strange pink shirts and valley girl accents, but for being the only child in the class with both living parents, even if he did only ever see one of them.

Currently Feliks was living alone, using the money his father had sent for child support to pay his way through university, along with the money he and his mother had made from some serious investments and his mother's high-paying job. Half the class was dirt poor and had gotten into HetaliaAcademy through scholarships; the other half was filthy rich and had been able to pay their way into the academy. Feliks belonged to the second half. He and his family had money.

This made him a contrast to Tora, who had gotten into Hetalia High on a scholarship, as had her brother's after her. That was definitely a good thing because a full scholarship was the only way they would be able to attend Hetalia High/University. Their family wouldn't be able to afford the uniform, if the Academy had one (it didn't, unusual for private academies).

Their 'family' consisted of the three of them; Tora was the sole legal guardian of seventeen year old Eduard and fifteen year old Ravis. Their mother had taken off on them when Tora was seven; they had lived in Latvia with Ravis's abusive father until Tora had turned eighteen. She'd fled to America, taking her younger brother's with her. All three of them had been offered full scholarships into Hetalia Academy-with the catch that they attend the Help class.

_Which is why they're here,_ Anniliese thought, _they had a horrible childhood and this is Rome's way of pretending he's doing something to offer some support but, _she glanced at Feliks, _why is _he_ here? The only thing that his file had on him that could be considered remotely stressful or mentally damaging is his parents divorce and moving to America. And while I understand that divorces can be horrible it's not something Rome would have put him in here for, he avoids putting students in here as much as he can. And as for moving,_ she mentally rolled her eyes,_ America's not _that_ bad. There must be something else I don't know about. That or it was one _Hell _of a divorce, literally. _

She watched Tora smile and nod absentmindedly as Feliks talked, from what she understood Feliks often talked Tora's ear off and smothered the poor thing with attention, which she tried to enjoy. That being said Feliks always did his best to look out for Tora and her brothers as much as he could, which was hard when she insisted everything was fine.

It was incredibly frustrating for him to be effortlessly rich and never having to work for it while the girl he loved struggled to pay the rent for the one-bedroom apartment she and her two brothers lived in and refused to let him do anything for her.

_They'll figure it out,_ Anniliese thought, _talking always helps._ The bell rang, _which reminds me,_ she caught Elvo's eye and jerked her head at her desk mouthing 'now.' He nodded.

After giving Elvo a strict dressing-down about 'proper classroom behaviour' and still not getting any answer's from him Anniliese sent the chastised Hungarian from the room and sighed, letting her head 'thunk' onto her desk. She had no idea what she was going to do about Dimitri or even if she'd see him again, ever.

She'd have to chase him up which wasn't going to be easy because apparently Rome hadn't gotten a file for the Romanian student yet, since he'd just moved to their University. She sighed again, just as she did, her phone rang. _Oh that had better not be Rome…_

"Hallo?" Anniliese answered her phone with a sigh, the person on the other end of the phone whistled.

"Wow, you sound awful, I was calling to ask you if you wanted to go out for coffee? Wanna grab one and talk about it," he asked sympathetically.

_Coffee?_ "Nickolas you have no idea how much I _love_ you," Anniliese told her closest (alright, her only) friend from her own University. He chuckled.

"Wow, showing affection? You really are bad, aren't you?" He asked, "Ok, I'll meet you at our old coffee place in half an hour. Okay?" 'Their' old coffee place was a tiny and absolutely adorable little coffee shop down one of the side streets by their old University that the two of them had found together one day while looking for a quiet place to study.

"Perfect, I'll see you then." Anniliese said, and hung up. God she loved Nickolas sometimes.

Around the corner Vash Zwingli shoved his notes back into his bag as he hurried off, he'd been planning to ask Anniliese to go over them with him, he was absolutely no good with this Disney stuff. But after overhearing her half of her conversation he decided screw it, he'd go over his own damn notes, maybe Lili could help him.

_Nickolas you have no idea how much I love you… _Anniliese's words floated back to him. Her usually calm and composed voice had sounded so relaxed and sincere; he wondered who on the other end of the line could be so special he could make _her _sound like that.

Then he shook himself, _it's absolutely none of my business, I'm such a creep, she's a teacher, my teacher._

He stormed off, his footsteps fading into silence.

* * *

**Damn, sorry I'm late. Well in case you couldn't tell, Anniliese's new student is Romania (you were right Acrnavy!), who I decided to name Dimitri since he doesn't have an official name. Nickolas is Bulgaria, the guy who hits Italy on the head with a stick.**

**Now look, I know I said Anniliese had 21 students earlier but I forgot to add Latvia and Estonia. She has 23, 24 counting Romania, my bad. Hope you enjoyed, R & R guys.**

**P.S; don't know how this is relevant but the next chapter will be the first one that's not entirely following Anniliese, part of it will be about Gilberta and Elvo so look forward to that. Bye!**


	10. Their Connections

**Many thanks to Katie-Kat1129, BlueFeatherStar, BrandyDawn98D and the ever-wonderful Acrnavy for reviewing! You guys are awesome! PruHun and RomaniaxBulgaria for all! BrandyDawn98D, I'm glad you like the story, even if you don't like all of the names.**

**Thank you to Flutejrp and BrandyDawn98D for following and Gilbird the Awesome, the wonderful reviewer who saved my life with my second chapter of Prince and Prince(ess), for following. Thank you guys!**

**Here's chapter 10, just as promised. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 10: Their Connections

When Anniliese got to the coffee shop Nickolas was already waiting for her with their respective drinks in front of them, he still knew what she liked. Nickolas took a sip of his ridiculously weak (well, in Anniliese's opinion anyway) coffee and smiled at her. Anniliese smiled back, it really had been too long.

"Hello Nickolas," she greeted.

"Hello yourself Anniliese," he replied. Nickolas was a slender young man about three years Anniliese's senior. He had dark hair and the most soulful dark eyes Anniliese had ever seen. Though around her they weren't soulful at all, they were glimmering with mischief or alight with dry humour. Normally he was serious young man but he had opened up to Anniliese in the four years they had spent together.

"So what's new, you sounded like you were on the verge of fainting on the phone," he asked her as she took a sip of her coffee and shivered with delight.

"Too late, I fainted almost a month ago," Anniliese said wryly, sipping her coffee again.

"Really, what happened?" Nickolas leaned forwards, worried.

Anniliese snickered lightly, because snorting in amusement just wasn't ladylike. "I think you mean what _didn't _happen. _Everything_ happened."

"Oh? Are you alright?" He leaned folded his hands under his chin, interested.

Anniliese sighed and set down her cup. Then she told Nicholas everything that had happened to her since the 27th of August and the interview the day after. Nickolas listened intently, his serious face betraying nothing. When Anniliese had finished he whistled and drained his coffee.

"So your foster brother was in your class? The one you thought was dead? And his sister? Who used to be your best friend? And your adoptive brother? And your adoptive sister? And _her_ sister? Who lives with your ex-boyfriend? And their grandfather is your boss? And the guy who found you _unconscious on your floor?_ Him too?"

"Yup," Anniliese said, taking a sip of her coffee. She wasn't even bothered by that anymore, though it sounded bad when he said it like that.

Nickolas snorted, "tough call." He ordered them both another coffee, "so what happened recently, you look like you got hit by a truck."

"You mean _that _wasn't enough to look like you got hit by a truck?" Anniliese asked, touching her brown ringlets self-consciously, she didn't really look like she had been hit by a truck. Did she?

He chuckled, "not for you superwoman."

"I think your preconceived notions of my abilities are somewhat over-glorified," Anniliese replied. Superwoman, really?

"Go on," his eyes danced, "tell me."

She sighed and gave up the game, "there's this new student. A boy. I just... don't know how to get through to him. It's not that he's a bad kid, he's polite, he's nice and he's respectful. He just," she shrugged, "he is absolutely certain that my plan is doomed to absolute failure and I'm an uncaring bitch."

"Ooh, a student that doesn't believe in a class system and doesn't think a teacher cares, imagine that!" Nickolas crowed. Anniliese crumpled her paper napkin and threw it at him, Nickolas was her closest friend, he never made her feel mature.

"Shut up. None of the others think that way. I hope." She replied

"Go on," Nickolas said wearily, "get it off your chest."

Anniliese took a deep breath, then all of her pent up anxiety rushed out of her and she poured her fears about Dimitri out to Nickolas.

"And if he fails the whole class, they'll kill him and I can see why," Anniliese admitted, "but I can't blame him for not wanting to come back, if Elvo was treating _me_ that way _I_ wouldn't come back either."

"Huh," Nickolas said thoughtfully, taking a sip of coffee, staring at the top of Anniliese's head. "So let me get this straight. This guy, Dimitri was it?" He didn't wait for Anniliese to confirm before continuing. "So he's polite, respectful and... nice, was it, but he also has no faith in your system and a problem with authority, more specifically _your_ authority. Your ex-adoptive brother hates him and he hates Elvo too?" He summarised.

"Exactly," said Anniliese, draining her cup.

"Huh," he said again, "he wouldn't happen to have chin-length pale blond hair, snow white skin, red eyes and long canine tooth on the left side of his mouth and a weird little hat on the side of his head?"

Anniliese blinked, "how the hell did you-?" A horrible feeling came over her.

Nickolas made a 'turn around' gesture with his forefinger. Anniliese whipped around in her seat. Dimitri smiled down at her. Anniliese's cheeks caught fire, _how long was he standing there?  
_  
"Hello Miss Edelstein, wonderful to see you again, nice day isn't it?" Dimitri said pleasantly.

Anniliese took a deep breath, she was going to kill Nickolas, then she was going to call Gilberta to help her move the body because _she _was a true friend, Nickolas was just a traitor. _I would have told _him_ if our positions were switched._ She would have. Probably.

"Hello Dimitri, what a surprise to see you here," she said as civilly as she could manage.

His teeth flashed in a smile, "evidently," his red eyes gleamed with mirth, then they moved from Anniliese to Nickolas and he raised a blond brow.

Nickolas stared coolly back, brown eyes met red. "Er," Anniliese said as the two guys engaged in some sort of staring contest, "Nickolas as you probably _already know _this is Dimitri Drakulya, my newest student. Dimitri, this is my friend Nickolas Raev, we went to collage together."

"Pleasure to meet you," Nickolas said, he was resting his chin on the back of one hand, looking up at Dimitri from under dark bangs. There was an expression in his shadowy eyes that Anniliese had never seen before. It looked almost...challenging.

Dimitri ginned, "the pleasure's all mine Mr. Raev, the pleasure is all mine." His smile was charming, there was a look in his eyes that Anniliese was also unfamiliar with.  
_  
Is he...flirting with Nickolas? _She wondered, Dimitri leaned forwards, setting his hands on their table, to ask Nickolas's opinion on the coffee shop and its beverages.

"Miss Edelstein, what do you think?" He asked.

"Oh," she snapped back to attention, "try the lemon cheesecake, it's divine."

"Ok then, I will, thank you." He leaned back, "well I'll leave the two of you to it then, I've already distracted you far more than enough."

"How did you even find this place Dimitri? It's not very well known," Anniliese asked.

Her student jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "I live just around the corner." He replied, Anniliese nodded.

"Really? Well maybe we'll bump into each other again," said Nickolas noncommittally, taking a sip of his coffee.

Dimitri's smile turned predatory, "I look forward to it, Mr. Raev. Well," he nodded to first his teacher, then her friend, "Miss Edelstein, Mr. Raev, it was nice seeing you." He sauntered off.

Nickolas took another large sip, "please tell me he was a uni student."

Anniliese took a sip of her own coffee, "nope. High school."

Nickolas spat his coffee all over the table and his white shirt, "what! Are you serious?!" He spluttered, trying, without much luck to clean up the mess he had made of himself.

"No, I was joking," Anniliese said lightly, "he's legal, he's in his first year of International Studies, on a transfer from Romania to Hetalia University."

"What?" Nickolas looked at her incredulously, "what the _hell_ Anniliese?! You don't joke, you don't even _like_ joking."

"True, but I do like watching you spit your coffee all over yourself." His best friend admitted. Revenge was sweet.

"I hate you," Nickolas said darkly, he practically worshiped the ground this woman walked over but... sometimes... "So what's his story? He was the troublemaker you mentioned but...?"

"Well, since the topic interests you so much; he's Romanian, he's nineteen and he lives alone. I don't really know much about him but he seems very...interested...in you." Anniliese said.

Nickolas swore, "well I'm not interested in him. Any more. He's nineteen." The Bulgarian male shook his head.

"You flirted with him when you didn't even know if he was a high school student or not, so don't you give me that," the Austrian female argued.

"Hey he came on to me," Nickolas joked wryly.

Anniliese fixed him with a glare that always made Nickolas think of being encased in amethyst-coloured ice.

"Nickolas Raev, I suggest you get your head out of your behind and stop trying to over-think everything, don't make the same mistake you almost made three years ago. And so what if Dimitri's only nineteen? If you were straight would you have a problem dating _me?_ I'm twenty. And how old are_ you _Grandpa?" It was a rhetorical question, she knew how old he was.

"I'm twenty-three," he admitted.

"Ah, I see, a vast world of difference." She deadpanned, draining the last of her second coffee, which had been delivered while Dimitri was talking to Nickolas. "I'm not saying you have to date Dimitri, I'm not even saying you _should._ That's not my call, he's my student so I'm not getting involved. But what you're trying to call 'morals,' I'm calling 'you being stupid.' Again. He likes you, you like him, what's the problem?" She got up, "that being said, he _is_ my student. If you break his heart, I will break your face."

Nickolas spluttered again, had _Anniliese_ just threatened to _break his face!?_ Anniliese pulled out her purse but Nickolas waved her away, "I invited you out here, I'm paying." Anniliese protested for a while but Nickolas eventually threw down the money and dragged her out of the shop. Anniliese grumbled for a bit but then fell  
silent, she'd just pay him back next time.

"So I'll see you later?" Nickolas asked her when they were outside the shop, Anniliese nodded and leaned up to kiss his forehead.

"Definitely," she agreed. Nickolas groused and rubbed his forehead with his sleeve. It was their ritual.

Anniliese waved, "see you later."

He lifted a hand in response and walked off down the side street, Anniliese walked back to main road with a spring in her step, she felt better now.

* * *

Wednesday's lesson passed smoothly, other than Gilberta kicking up a fuss because that day was the 3rd  
October, Ludwig's 18th birthday.

"Happy Birthday Luddy!" Gilberta yelled for about the thousandth time that day, hanging off her younger brother's arm. "Eighteen wow." She ruffled his sleek hair, "if I die now they won't put you back into foster care, what a relief."

Ludwig winced as his sister messed up his hair, "please don't say things like that Schwester," he muttered.

Everyone congratulated Ludwig on making it to eighteen with Gilberta for a sister. When the lesson ended Feliciana dragged Ludwig and Kiku back to the huge house she shared with her grandfather so she could cook them a special pasta for Ludwig's birthday.

Again Elvo and Anniliese were the last two people in the classroom, "see ya later Anna!" Even though that Romanian bastard had come back Elvo was in a good mood today, mostly because he didn't have to work.

"Have a nice afternoon Elvo," Anniliese replied, going over the scripts everyone had written, Mathias's handwriting was absolutely awful.

"You too, see ya." He left, shutting the door behind him.

Anniliese sighed and rubbed her head, she was going to be here forever, _what does this even mean? _She threw the paper down on top of the others.

* * *

When Elvo exited the classroom he found Gilberta leaning against the wall, waiting for him, a huge, bulging handbag over one arm. "Hang out with the awesome me for a bit?" She asked lightly.

Elvo blinked, surprised, but then shrugged and nodded, "sure, why not."

"Awesome," Gilberta strolled off, motioning for Elvo to follow. He did.

Walking behind her Elvo couldn't help but notice how much Gilberta had changed. He wasn't a pervert, much, okay he was, and he noticed certain things. Gilberta had grown up slender and long-legged, her pale skin was flawless, and her long sheet of white hair that hug just lower than her tiny mini skirt shone like snow. Elvo watched, hypnotized as her hair swayed from side to side as she walked until Gilberta stopped at a large pipe.

"What are we doing?" Elvo asked as Gilberta hitched the bag higher up around her narrow shoulder and gripped the pipe with both hands. "Ah!" Elvo, who had been looking up at the pipe curiously, hurriedly looked away as Gilberta shimmied up the pipe. "Gila you're in a skirt!" He reminded her.

Gilberta blew a raspberry, "oh don't be such a prude. Why are you embarrassed? I'm not. Are you coming or what?" Elvo shrugged and followed.

When he was up Elvo sat beside Gilberta on the roof, he didn't bother telling her they would get into trouble for this, she, the school's most notorious troublemaker, would just laugh. And they would only get into trouble if they were caught.

Gilberta pulled two bottles of beer out of her huge handbag and handed Elvo one, her rolled his eyes. "Only you would go to the roof of a school building to drink." He said.

She snickered, "aww, you know you love it." He did actually.

Elvo took the drink from her and popped the cap, Gilberta took a gulp from hers, "it's funny you know Elvo, every time one of us had a birthday in the past Luddy and I would go have a nice dinner together and watch a movie together and eat cake. It was sort of our thing. But now he's having dinner with Felici and Kiku. He doesn't need me anymore. I'm kind of sad, but kind of happy too. He's grown up so much."

"I was just thinking that," Elvo admitted, " but he's not the only one who's grown up."

Gilberta looked at him with warm red eyes, the only thing about her that hadn't changed at all and leaned against his shoulder, shutting those eyes, "yeah, everyone's different now, you, me, Felici, Luddy, Toni, Lovina and even Anna. But inside we're all still the same people. We haven't changed _that_ much."

Elvo covered her hand with his, "yeah, you're still the same scabby-kneed, short-haired little _boy_ I used to beat up when I was eleven."

Gilberta snorted, "I am not a boy! And please, I am far more awesome than that!" Elvo squeezed her hand.

"Yeah, you are," he admitted.

Gilberta flinched in surprise, "did you just compliment me Elvo? Are you feeling alright?" She reached up and felt his forehead.

Elvo snorted, "fine, I won't compliment you in future, happy?" Gilberta laughed and tossed her hair. She was so beautiful, her confidence and attitude enhancing her physical beauty tenfold.

Elvo wasn't really sure what he was thinking when he caught a strand of her hair between his fingers. Gilberta stopped moving and looked at him quizzically so Elvo leaned forwards and kissed her on the lips.

* * *

**Bye guys! Hope you enjoyed!**


	11. Her Complications

**Sorry I'm late guys, I was halfway through the chapter when my trusty USB decided it was finally going to die on me (Two weeks before I finish Grade 12?! Are you serious?!). So I had to start again. (R.I.P USB! *sniff*). Sorry.**

**Many thanks to my BFF myviolettears for following and favoriting this story and me AND reviewing, but you seem to be implying I can't write a kiss scene, SAY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU! :)**

**Many thanks also go out to BlueFeatherStar for reviewing, I hope your sister isn't too bad to you!**

**And last but not least, the wonderful Hornet394, I'm so glad you feel that way about my portrayal of Romania, the description of him you gave was _exactly _what I was going for! Every time I read that review I squeal like the Fangirl I am!**

**Many thanks to everyone else who is reading this! Enjoy! I don't own!**

* * *

Chapter 11: Her Complications

A few weeks later, Monday the 20st, to be exact. It rained. And it didn't just rain, it _rained._ Not a light drizzle or even a steady or heavy rainfall, it poured down in buckets and buckets.

Unfortunately for Anniliese her car had broken down the day before and was now in for repairs. This meant she had to walk to school (the public transport conveniently went nowhere near her house).

_Fortunately_ for Anniliese the rain didn't really start to pour down until she and her students were safely inside their classroom. And yes, her students did include Dimitri who had shown up yet again. If he was planning to be troublesome by not showing up for class or participating he was doing an incredibly bad job of it.

Anniliese glanced to Elvo on her right to Gilberta on her left, then her eyes flicked to Ludwig across the table, wanting some kind of explanation to what the Hell was going on.

Gilberta was sulking, no, sulking wasn't the right word, she was downright depressed. And she was_ brooding,_ about what, Anniliese wasn't sure.

She was awfully quiet, not raising a single objection when Anniliese told the class about the assignment she wanted done (500 words or more on what they hoped to get out of this class to be handed up no later than the beginning on Wednesday's lesson).

Normally Gilberta would have complained, loudly, about any written assignments, at least to Antonio and Francis. Today she barely spoke a word to either of them and went out of her way to avoid sitting with or looking at Elvo.

Ludwig shuffled his papers and stood to ask Kiku, seated a few tables away with Feliciana, Ivan and her foster brother Yao, something about the assignment (because _where_ was the sense in asking the teacher seated across from him?!).

When Ludwig finished asking Kiku his question Anniliese stopped him before he could reach his own table once again.

"Ludwig do you know what's wrong with your sister?" She asked, he looked at his teacher and ex-foster sister (though he wasn't to know that) with pale blue eyes made darker by worry.

"No, I have no idea," he admitted, "but she's been since I got home from Feliciana's on my birthday and she's just been getting worse and worse. I've tried to talk to her about it but she just says she's fine even though she's obviously not." He ran a hand over his slicked-back blond hair, frustrated.

Anniliese frowned, worried now, she had noticed a change in Gilberta over the past week and a half yes, but it hadn't been nearly this bad. And the weird thing was; _Elvo_ was sulking and seemed to be depressed too.  
_  
Did they have a fight?_ Anniliese wondered, but then dismissed the idea.

Elvo and Gilberta fought by hitting each other with frying pans and shoving each other, kicking each other in the shins, pulling the other person's hair and sticking their tongues out at each other. Not by giving each other the silent treatment, avoiding the other person like he or she was the plague and moping around.

"Alright, I'll talk to her," Anniliese told Ludwig. He looked grateful.

"Thank you," he said, going back to his table and sitting down again.

Truthfully Ludwig had been worried that the reason his sister was depressed on his birthday (and he could tell immediately, despite her honest attempts to be cheerful for his sake) was because he had spent time eating pasta and cake with Feliciana and Kiku rather than spending time with his sister like he normally did on one of their birthdays.

He had then spent the next few days feeling horribly guilty and trying to make it up to his sister by spending as much time with her as possible. After a few days Gilberta managed to make it abundantly clear that, while she was obviously upset with someone, that someone wasn't him.

He had interrogated Francis and Antonio, of course, but they knew even less than he did.

He then wondered if Ivan, Gilberta's ex-boyfriend, had said or done anything to her but Ivan hadn't gone anywhere near Gilberta (he went out of his way _not _to go near Gilberta).

So Ludwig had no idea what to do. He had considered going to Anniliese before now but decided if it wasn't important enough for his sister to go to him about it then it obviously wasn't that important at all, which meant that Gilberta would probably get over it on her own rather quickly.

Gilberta didn't sulk; she just _didn't,_ losing her parents and then her beloved foster father had, although it didn't often seem like it, wizened the albino up considerably.

Gilberta, usually a peppy soul, didn't like to waste time and energy worrying about things she couldn't change, she deemed it 'too unawesome.'

And if there was one thing Ludwig was proud of about his relationship with his sister it was how much they trusted each other, there were no secrets between the two of them, ever.

Therefore; if _he_ didn't know what was upsetting her, it wasn't worth bothering about and his sister would soon brush it off. Or at least that was his logic at the time.

Almost three full weeks later and his sister still wasn't over what was getting her down, Ludwig knew he really needed to rethink his logic. So he was eternally grateful that Anniliese had offered to speak with Gilberta, he was really beginning to get worried.

Gilberta inwardly winced as both Ludwig and Anniliese got up at the same time, leaving her alone at the table. With Elvo.

After Ludwig's birthday things between them weren't exactly awkward, because she was _Gilberta Beilschmidt_ and she did not do awkward, it was far too unawesome...

Things between them were really, _really_ awkward.

Gilberta's snow white hands clenched into fists, _who do you think you are anyway? _She asked Elvo  
mentally.

You think its okay for you_ to kiss _me_ and then avoid me like I was some kind of accident? Like it didn't mean _anything?_ Because it meant a Hell of a lot to me Elvo Héderváry, it meant a Hell of a lot to _me._ I thought you were better than this but I guess I was wrong!_

Elvo wasn't Edward Cullen (thankfully) and didn't read minds so he didn't answer.

Gilberta huffed quietly and glared at a wall, she knew she was a bit of a flirt and a bit of a tease sometimes but she would never, ever lead someone on like that, she didn't mind being a little vivacious, or a lot vivacious, but she did have some human decency!

No, that wasn't fair, she had known Elvo since they were children, they'd played together, fought together, grown up together, he had been a kind child and he was a good man.

She hadn't been wrong about him had she?

There was no way Gilberta's memory of the young boy she had secretly adored had affected her perception of the young man she now knew, was there?

No, that was stupid, Elvo was a _good man,_ it was obvious, even to the untrained eye. There had to be a perfectly logical explanation as to why he was now avoiding her like his life depended on it after kissing her with virtually no warning.

That sounded lame, even in Gilberta's head.

She sighed and turned to face Elvo; she was a confrontational, headstrong woman and would rather face her problems head on then run away from them.

It was probably just a huge misunderstanding and the quickest way to clear up misunderstandings was to talk about them, right?

"Why did you-" Gilberta began bluntly, and then the bell rang.

Elvo bolted from the classroom, so did Vash Zwingli but Gilberta had no idea why. To the best of her knowledge nothing had happened to _him.  
_  
Despite herself, Anniliese couldn't help but giggle softly as she watched Gilberta watch the bell that had cut her off. The look on her friend's face was exactly how Anniliese herself always felt when the bell cut _her_ off.

"You're on my list," Gilberta told the bell darkly, as she began to gather up her things. Anniliese hated to think how long that 'list' might be and what it entitled.

"A moment please Gilberta?" Anniliese called.

Gilberta exchanged nonplussed glances with Francis and Antonio, who left, and then nodded wordlessly at Anniliese.

She waved goodbye to Ludwig who, still in his final year of high school, hurried off to get his books for his next class with Feliciana.

Kiku, a year older than them and in her first year of University, was going home with her older brother. She waved too and left, leaving Anniliese alone with Gilberta.

Gilberta watched her younger brother leave and then turned in her chair to survey Anniliese, "what's up teach?" She asked Anniliese casually.

Anniliese sighed again and sat down in the chair beside Gilberta.

"What's wrong?" She asked, deciding to be blunt, "you haven't been acting like yourself for over a week now and it's worrying Gilberta."

Gilberta laughed and tossed her long hair, "I'm fine, awesome in fact, it's just some stupid, unawesome misunderstanding that's got me a teensy bit worried, nothing to worry about!" She said cheerfully, seemingly unaware that she had just contradicted herself.

"Right…" Anniliese said,_ completely_ aware that Gilberta had just contradicted herself (not that shitty grammar and sentence structure was out of the ordinary for Gilberta but still…). "This 'stupid, unawesome misunderstanding' wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Elvo would it?"

Gilberta's face crumpled, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, "how did you…?" She shook her head, stupid question; this was Anniliese, the third member of their own little trio, of course she knew.

Anniliese put her hand over her friend's, "tell me what happened," she pressed gently.

Gilberta nodded and told her everything, how she'd been feeling nostalgic on Ludwig's birthday, she'd brought Elvo up to the roof to talk. She left out the part where they'd started drinking (oh come on! They'd barely had two mouthfuls of light beer each, that wasn't drinking!), he'd complimented her, then he'd kissed her, how surprised she'd been...

Then how Elvo had practically bolted the same way he had today, how he'd started avoiding her, how they hadn't said a word to each other since…

When she finished Anniliese cupped her chin in her hand thoughtfully, she had seen the remorseful, almost self-hating look on Elvo's face earlier and thought she knew what the problem was here.

"And now he avoids me like _I've_ done something wrong and don't want to talk to _him_ and it's probably no big deal but it's so stupid and unawesome!" Gilberta ranted, running her hands through her long hair.

"Gilberta, I really think you were right, you do need to go talk to Elvo, now preferably, I think I know what the problem is."

Gilberta's head snapped round, "you _do?!_ What is it?"

"You know how you said Elvo's been avoiding you, won't talk to you and seems upset with you?" Anniliese asked, her friend nodded, "well I think he's thinking the exact same things about you." Anniliese pressed on, ignoring Gilberta's spluttering and 'what?' s. "You said you were surprised, I think he thought you were upset with him, now he thinks you don't want to talk to him and that he's done something wrong so he's avoiding you."

"Wha?!" Gilberta looked hopelessly confused, "but if he thought I was upset why did he leave? Why didn't he just _ask me that?"_

"He was probably feeling guilty for betraying your trust or something along those lines," Anniliese guessed, knowing Elvo like she did.

Gilberta gripped her slanted fringe, "so this _was _just a misunderstanding! I thought he was an ass, he's just an idiot!"

Anniliese patted her hand sympathetically, "he's a _man_ honey, they don't think the same way we do." That was one piece of advice her mother had given her as a child that had turned out to be true.

Gilberta jumped up, "I'm going to talk to him right now! And if he really was just being an idiot I'm going to kick his ass!"

"And if he really wasn't being an idiot you're really going to kick his ass," Anniliese guessed, folding her arms, "either way I don't see Elvo winning this one."

"Kesesesesese," Gilberta gave her strange hissing laugh, "nope! Thank's for the advice Anna, see you Wednesday!" She raced off.

Anniliese sighed, Gilberta was alright, she caught the bus like a smart person but if Anniliese caught a bus to anywhere near her house she would end up hopelessly lost and would never find her way back home. It would be shorter and safer to just walk the whole way.

Still, she was just going to wait here for a few more hours in the hopes the rain would let up. She had plenty of marking to do anyway...

* * *

The crash of thunder woke Anniliese who, despite the sound of rain on the roof (which she hated), had nodded off to sleep at her desk.

She jumped and when she recovered she checked the time on her phone and swore, ever so slightly (because swearing just wasn't dignified). It was 9:30pm.

Anniliese looked out the window and sighed; the rain had turned into a storm and was worse than ever. It didn't look like it was going to let up ever. She had to leave sometime, Anniliese grabbed her umbrella, which would likely do her very little good, and stood. Now was as good a time as any, she supposed.

A blond head poked around the doorway, "Miss Edelstein? What are you still doing here?"

Anniliese started with surprise, "Vash? I could ask you the same thing."

Her student shook out his dripping blond hair, "I had to grab my sister's schoolbag, she left it here and Lili needs to do all her homework or she'll fall behind and lose her scholarship, we can't afford that." He held up a pink backpack with flowers on it.

"Vash you're soaking wet," Anniliese said with concern, she knew she was stating the obvious but still…

He shrugged, "I had to walk here," he muttered, "but I only live next door so it's not like it really matters." He eyed her shrewdly, "how are you getting home, you're driving, right?"

Anniliese shook her head ruefully, "afraid not, I'm walking, same as you."

Vash started, surprised, "but your house is nowhere near here! You're joking, right?" Oh God, she wasn't joking, was she?...

Anniliese shook her head again, "unfortunately no. My car broke down and I can't catch a bus, I'd get hopelessly lost. And I have no idea where and when they run anyway."

Vash cursed and walked forwards, grabbing Anniliese's arm in a gentle, yet firm grip, "don't be stupid, you can't walk back to your own place in this, come on!"

He dragged Anniliese outside where the roar of the wind and the lashing of the rain drowned out her protests and questions, 'where are you taking me?' being the most commonly asked one. The rain soaked them both instantly as Vash dragged her to a well-kept two bedroom house right beside the school. He opened the unlocked door and both he and Anniliese tumbled inside, the door slammed shut behind them from the wind.

"Come into the living room, don't mind the carpet –it's been wet more times than you can imagine- and I'm sure I can find you something dry to wear."

He turned around and called down the small hall, "Lili! I have you're bag!"

He turned back to his astonished teacher, "you'll catch pneumonia and die if you walk back to your house in this weather. This is my house; you can just stay here tonight."  
_  
What have I gotten myself into now?_ Anniliese wondered.

* * *

**What ****_has_**** she gotten herself into now? Find out next time guys (the chapter after that might actually be about Disney *gasp* Imagine that!)  
**

**R & R guys and tell me what you'd like to see happen with our two little couples-but this is only a T fic so don't get any funny ideas ;)**

**I also want to know what other side parings you guys want to see (I like basically all of them so it doesn't bother me in the slightest). Review and let me know!**

**IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!**  
**A really nice writer I know named skyfire101 has had an idea for a fanfiction and put the idea on the net, if you want to write this idea (it is a RussiaxOC idea) look her up and click on the fanfic titled 'Challenge fics,' it will be the second chapter.**  
**Don't bother doing the first one, I just finished it.**  
**skyfire101 is amazing and really supportive, I really enjoyed doing her challenge fic even though OCs and Russia aren't really my thing. She would really love to see the idea done so if you're interested give her a look.**  
**If you have any questions just PM her or even me if you want to. I promised I'd help her find someone to do the idea. Please take a look! I really enjoyed it!**  
**Someone has already taken an interest so if you like the idea, get in quick! I'd be really interested to read it if anyone did.**

**Hope you enjoyed guys! Bye!**


	12. Their Feelings

**Ok guys I'm back! Hehe, and Naruto thought it was going to get in the way of updating my favourite fanfiction and communicating with all of my favourite viewers (that's you guys). I sure showed Naruto! HA!**

**Anyway, cellistviolistviolinistbas gets many thanks for following.**

**Also thanks to many of my wonderful regulars for reviewing.**

**To my BFF myviolettears, one can only wonder, (and no, this is going to be nothing like that time with Mist) :)**

**To Hornet394, again you have read my mind; that is exactly how I intend things to play out.**

**To BlueFeatherStar, I'm glad it's kinda fun. Sometimes I wish I had a sister (sometimes). And I am extremely glad you liked the tension in the previous chapter, I worried that I made things unnecessarily dramatic but if you liked it then its good!**

**Acrnavy, don't worry my dear, no matter what other pairings do or do not happen you will get your lovely RoBul :)**

**That being said, no matter what other pairings do or do not happen PoLiet, HongIce, SuFin, DeNor and RoBul _will_**** be happening, that is non-negotiable.  
****_  
That_**** being said, if there is a pairing you really,****_ really_**** want to see happen tell me and I'll see if I can at east give them a mention, there are very few pairings I am not okay with.**

**Jeezus Christ! Write a long author's note why don't I?**

**Anyway, I don't own, R & R guys and enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 12: Their Feelings

Elvo Héderváry opened his apartment door and threw his bag on the couch like he always did.

He walked down the tiny hall to his room and opened the door; he kicked off his shoes and flopped face-first down on his bed with a groan.  
_  
Dammit…_ he thought, _I fucked up._ Elvo just wanted to keep his head down on the pillow and not move ever again but the horror-struck expression on Gilberta's face after he'd kissed her kept playing in his mind every time he closed his eyes.

After a few seconds he cursed and rolled over, sitting up in the process. He needed something to occupy himself with. He had just finished his latest assignment for his course and he'd finished his work for Anniliese too, so school was out. He had no errands to run, he'd gotten the groceries yesterday (and he didn't really want to go out in this weather anyway). What could he do to occupy his time?

Forty-five minutes later, Elvo had scrubbed his small apartment from top to bottom. Everything shone, _everything._ Even things that didn't usually shine, like the carpet and couch.

Elvo washed his hands at the kitchen sink, unrolling the sleeves he had rolled up to wash the floor. He dried his hands and ripped the tie out of his still slightly damp hair, pushing it back from his face.  
_  
Okay, that's over with._ He still had to entertain himself for the rest of the night. He could read a book like he usually did but he didn't feel like reading or surfing the net. Shrugging he plopped down on his couch and turned on the Xbox360 and TV.

After dying four times in seven minutes Elvo stared at the screen, today was just not his day. What was wrong with him?  
_  
I know what's wrong with me, it's roughly five foot five, has white hair, red eyes, a cocky attitude and a pet bird._ He sighed and tilted his head back, throwing an arm over his eyes. _Fuck._

He'd screwed up big time, Elvo was certain of that, _but, everyone makes mistakes right? I can fix this, right? _He sat up._ I can try.  
_  
Forgetting his earlier decision not to go outside in this weather Elvo grabbed his coat and tore out the door.

Or rather, he was about to, then he saw something small and pale orange sticking out of his bag and stopped, _okay, what the hell is that?_

He walked over to the thing and picked it up. It was a hair tie with a large fabric flower attached to it, his throat tightened. Gilberta had been wearing this flower-tie in her hair at the beginning of the lesson on Ludwig's birthday, the day he, Elvo Héderváry the Idiot, had kissed her.

When she'd taken it out about halfway through the lesson she'd accidentally dropped it. Elvo had nearly stepped on it a few minutes later and, recognising it, had picked it up, meaning to return it.

But Gilberta had been out of the room for some reason so Elvo had slipped the hair tie into his bag for safekeeping and then forgotten all about it.  
_  
I can't believe it was in my bag this whole time and I didn't remember or even see it. What the Hell?_

With any luck (meaning; if Gilberta ever wanted to speak to him again) he could return it today, Elvo pocketed it. _Then_ he ran out the door.

* * *

Gilberta sighed and slumped down on her armchair, _damn him…_ She sat there for ten or so whole minutes, her perfectly manicured nail tapping against the arm of the chair in thought. After a few seconds she made up her mind and stood again, she didn't care if it was raining, she was going to go to his apartment and wait outside his door all day if she had to, but Anniliese was right! She was going to talk to him whether he liked it or not!

Grabbing her umbrella, she headed out the door again.

* * *

Elvo knocked on Gilberta's door urgently; he then waited patently for ten or so seconds before knocking again, more cautiously this time.  
_  
Oh please don't tell me she's not here, where would she be? She can't be out on a day like today can she? Ugh, she's probably at Francis or Antonio's house._

He liked the other two boys, he really did, but right now they might have totally killed his good intentions and now he was probably going to lose his nerve.

He gritted his teeth and clenched the stem of the bouquet of white roses surrounded by blue Cornwalls he had bought for Gilberta, between both hands. _Grow a pair._ He told himself sternly.

He sat down on her porch, under the veranda; he'd sit here all day if he had to.

* * *

At roughly 8pm Elvo Héderváry got to his feet, shaking like a leaf, flowers still clutched tightly between numb fingers. He had dried off considerably since he had arrived but unfortunately neither the wind nor the rain had let up, so he was freezing and it looked like he was going to get soaked again.

He hesitated before stepping off the porch, not just because of the weather; he had made a promise to stay here until Gilberta returned and, as useless as the gesture was, he wanted to keep that self-made promise.

But the truth of the matter was, if he stayed here any longer he was going to freeze to death, or at least make himself seriously ill if he didn't at least start moving soon. He had a feeling that his apology to Gilberta might not go down too well if he had hypothermia.  
_  
Though that might make her feel sorry for me.  
_  
He sighed and his shoulders slumped,_ she's probably staying with Tony and Francis, now that I think about it, where the Hell is Ludwig too? It's a school night._

Well he trusted the younger man to make mature decisions, there was no point in him staying here any longer. He'd been sitting there for roughly _nine hours._ If she hadn't come back yet, she probably wasn't going to.

Taking a shaky step forward he tightened his still-damp jacket around him and began the walk back to his apartment.

* * *

At roughly 8:30pm Gilberta Beilschmidt sighed and put her phone away. She got up and stretched once, stiff from hours (and hours, and hours) of sitting in the hall against Elvo's door playing games on her phone and periodically texting jokes to Lovina every hour, just to annoy her, before sitting back down. She'd tried calling Elvo but stopped when she heard his ringtone coming from inside his house, where he wasn't.

She didn't really have anywhere she needed to be but that door and floor were fucking uncomfortable and she needed to feed Gilbird and the dogs. Luddy normally would have done it for her if she wasn't there but he was staying at Feliciana's for the night to finish a joint assignment.

Normally Gilberta would have teased her straight-laced brother for spending the night at a teenaged girl's house but the truth of the matter was that she doubted anything was going to happen between her brother and Feliciana when the grandfather the Italian girl lived with was their _high school principal._

Gilberta just didn't see it happening. Plus, Lovina would probably have Ludwig assassinated by the Mafia if something did happen between him and Felici and Lovina found out about it. Gilberta chuckled quietly.

She leaned against the doorframe and shut her eyes; _I'll stay here for a little while longer. You can't avoid me forever damn you Elvo, I know where you live._ She quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Elvo squeezed some of the litres of water out of his hair and jacket before entering his apartment complex.

The flowers he had bought Gilberta, safe and sound in their little wrappings, were fine, but they were the only part of this sad little picture that was. The rest of him was gloomy, miserable and thoroughly done-in, both physically and emotionally.

Giving a woman he recognized (she lived on the floor below him) a weary smile, he trudged to the elevator.

When he was inside and the contraption was moving he groaned and stumbled backwards until his back hit the wall of the elevator with a squishy 'thud.' He was exhausted.

_Sorry Gilberta, I really did try._

He would probably see Gilberta tomorrow; she had to go home sometime, didn't she? Or Wednesday in Anna's class at the latest but that was one or two more nights feeling like this he was going to have to endure. He'd rather be out in the rain again.

It wasn't the _guilt_ that bothered him, it was bad but nothing he'd lose too much sleep over.

What was hurting Elvo was knowing he had upset his closest friend, the rejection stung like a thousand knives and the utter disgust the woman he loved obviously felt for him was the worst.

He had been prepared for rejection, he had kissed her out of the blue after all, and he hadn't even told Gilberta how he felt about her.

But knowing that the idea of him being in love with her was so_ abhorrent_ to her was what hurt the most. The betrayed, angry expressions she wore whenever their eyes met these days was more than he could handle.  
_  
Maybe I should talk to Anna; she'd know what I should do, what I could say, to make this less of a fucked-up mess._

The elevator 'ding'ed to a stop on his floor and Elvo squelched off. He turned down his corridor and stopped and stared before breaking into a run, almost dropping the flowers in surprise.

The object of his thoughts was curled up on the floor at his feet, fast asleep.

Elvo knelt beside Gilberta and reached out to touch her, he hesitated, and then lightly shook her shoulder, being mindful of how cold and wet his hands were, not that there was really much he could do about that.

"Gil," he said, "Gilberta, wake up!"

She stirred and her red eyes fluttered open, "Elvo?" Her eyes snapped open and she lunged forwards, gripping the arm of his coat with both hands, "oh you aren't getting away from me again you unawesome bastard! Do you have any idea how long I've been sitting here?!" He face then changed to one of worry, "El, you're soaking wet," she murmured in a completely different voice.

He chuckled, "yeah. And by my guess you've been sitting here, or at least out, for roughly ten hours."

Gilberta blinked, "how did you know?"

He laughed again, though there was no real humour in it, "that's how long I spent on your front porch."

Gilberta's cheeks turned red with mortification, "you mean you've been at my house this whole time?! I should've just stayed home!"

"Don't think I'm not telling myself the same thing," Elvo joked lightly, picking up the flowers and standing.

Gilberta rose too, "you should've! Why did you sit on my porch for ten hours in this weather you idiot?!"

"Why do you think. I wanted to talk to you," Elvo unlocked the door and held it open for her; Gilberta marched inside like she owned the place.

Elvo shut the door behind them and leaned against it, "look Gilberta, I-"

Gilberta held up a hand, "El, take a shower, get changed for Christ's sake. You're going to freeze to death. I'll still be here when you get out."

Elvo hesitated, he knew he had to change his clothes at the very least, but still he hesitated, "you will?" He asked.

Gilberta nodded firmly, "you just try getting rid of the awesome me!"

He nodded mutely and hurried into his room.

* * *

Anniliese stirred as another chill swept through her, she slowly sat up straight and looked around her. She was seated on Vash's bed, propped up on pillows, leaning against the headboard wearing a pair of Lili's pink pajama pants and a too-big black shirt that belonged to Vash.

She had showered, eaten (a delicious dinner Vash had bitten her head off when she tried to help with) and then she and Vash had helped Lili with her homework.

She was surprised and charmed by the closeness between the two siblings, despite their very different personalities and charmed by Lili herself. Vash's sister was such a cute little thing.

Then Vash had asked for her assistance in writing up his script and learning his lines. So the three of them had watched the Lion King together, Vash and Anniliese on the love seat and Lili on the floor between their legs.

Then they had gone over the lines. Anniliese had pointed out that Vash's biggest problem with learning the lines was probably the fact that he refused to actually sing any of them (Vash had a back-up role so he didn't have any spoken lines).

Vash had disagreed with her statement but Lili took Anniliese's side so the Swiss boy had eventually agreed to at least_ say _the lines out loud. Anniliese counted that as a win.

Going over the lines they had sat down on the sofa, which became too cramped for the two of them so they moved to the dining table. When that got too uncomfortable they moved into Vash's room.

He sat at his desk and offered her a seat on his bed, she took it and they went over the lines some more, reading them together, then Anniliese checking them as Vash tried to remember them of by heart and Anniliese reminding him of the cues and the lines the other characters would be saying before the singing.

He moved onto the double bed beside her at her insistence that he needed to actually_ look_ at the lines they were supposed to be looking over and he couldn't do that if he was at his desk and she on the bed with the lyrics.

Somewhere along the way, they'd both fallen asleep, Anniliese's head against Vash's shoulder, his blond head resting on top of her darker one. Anniliese rubbed her eyes, she'd forgotten where she was for a second but now she remembered, she pulled her glasses off of her face and set them on the bed beside the pillow.

Looking around she located Vash's blanket, folded neatly at the end of his bed, and, moving carefully so she wouldn't wake him, unfolded it and threw it over both of them. Anniliese tucked the blanket around Vash and took a moment to tuck a strand of blond hair behind Vash's ear. He looked so different without his usual scowl adorning his features. This version of him was cuter but she liked Vash just the way he was normally.

Anniliese reached over and turned of the bedside lamp they had been using (to save electricity) and moved back into her spot by Vash, feeling slightly awkward. She was currently snuggled up against one of her students; there was no universe in which that was okay with her (with the exception of Gilberta and Elvo and the other students she had previous ties with). But, she shrugged mentally; by the same token, _he was one of her students_. That ensured that this didn't mean anything.

Right?

* * *

After he had showered and gotten into some dry clothes, Elvo crossed the room and picked up the flowers he had bought, "okay, let me try this again."

He held the flowers out to Gilberta. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was so stupid, I let myself get carried away, I betrayed your trust and ruined our friendship, I'm sorry." He felt a lump forming in his throat and he tried to ignore it. He had been rejected by the woman he loved, why did he have to lose his best friend too?

Gilberta took the flowers with a muttered thanks, she didn't quite know how to feel about them. On one hand, she was delighted the guy she liked had bought her flowers, but his _reasoning._ Ugh. She wanted to face-palm, Anniliese was so right.

Gilberta set the flowers gently down on the coffee table then turned and slapped Elvo across the face.

"That's for being an idiot!"

Elvo rubbed his stinging cheek, wincing, he'd deserved that; he had been an idiot, hadn't he?

Unexpectedly Gilberta took a step forwards and cupped his sore cheek with her own, smaller hand. Then she leaned up on her toes and kissed him gently.

"And that's because I love you."

* * *

Far away Ludwig Beilschmidt jerked upright from where he was lounging on the couch watching the Lion King (totally for class) with Feliciana.

Felici disentangled herself from where she was lying draped over him to pause the movie and glance over at him quizzically. "What's wrong Luddy?" She asked in her thickly accented voice.

He rubbed his brow, "for some reason I think I want to punch Elvo Héderváry."

Felici balked, "punch Big Brother Elvo? _Why?!"_

Ludwig shook his head and leaned back again, "I have no idea, it's probably nothing."

* * *

After Elvo remembered how to breathe and move again he grabbed one of Gilberta's arms and pulled her closer, kissing her deeply.

"I love you too."

* * *

**Whoo! And done! It's actually late Monday night over here (though it will be first thing Tuesday morning by the time I post this) and it was storming. Weird. This chapter might even be set today, or the American version of my today (damn you time zones!) But it might be last week, I can't really remember. But I think it's today. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Long chapter, whoo!**

**And Elvo and Gilberta sorted out their shit, yay! This chapter ended up being 99% about them huh?**

**GET BACK INTO SIDE-CHARACTER CATEGORY YOU TWO! NOW! Ugh, too late.**

**Is anyone bothered by how much of this is about the relationships? I mean, this fic is supposed to be mostly about the relationships between the characters but it is about the platonic ones too, and there is supposed to be some semblance of a plot occasionally.**

**No one's sitting there going "Get on with the Disney dammit woman!"**

**Right?**

**The Disney will be soon, I swear!**

**R & R guys, let me know what you think!**

**Ciao!**


	13. Her Days

**Hi guys, sorry I'm late, I completely forgot I was supposed to update this morning! But my life's been busy, I just finished my last year of High School, my graduation ceremony is tomorrow (yay!). And it is still Tuesday so I'm technically not behind.**

**Anyway, many thanks to Rachel loves America for following and favoriting this story as well as yours truly. You rock!**

**Everyone who cares about this story, thank you so much! Don't think I don't notice because I do.**  
**Well, I don't own, R & R, enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 13: Her Days

When Vash opened his eyes the next morning the first thing he saw was brown silk threads and lots of them. As in _lots_ of them.

Quite quickly he realized that they were not threads but hair, long brown hair.

He didn't have long brown hair.

_Who the fuck-!_ Vash thought, panicked, then he remembered.

And panicked even harder.

With a yelp he scrambled backwards, falling off the edge of the bed. The thud woke Anniliese and she began to stir. She rubbed her eyes, had she been watching, she would've seen Vash bolt into the hall and slam the bathroom door behind him, but she wasn't.

Anniliese pushed her long hair back with her hands; she would have to ask Lili if she could borrow her hairbrush.

She looked around, hadn't she just heard Vash's footsteps? But he was no where to be found so Anniliese shrugged it off.

She climbed out of bed, blushing a little, _how unprofessional._

She couldn't let Gilberta hear about this, she'd never hear the end of it.

Making the bed neatly Anniliese went in search of the occupants of the house and her own clothes which had been hung up to dry. She doubted they'd be ready yet but you never knew.

Anniliese heard clattering in the kitchen so she headed in there, Vash wasn't in the kitchen but Lili was.

The tiny blonde girl smiled when she saw Anniliese, "hello Miss Edelstein, did you have a good sleep?"

If that line had been said by anyone else Anniliese would've thought it was a jab at exactly how she had spent her night, or rather, _who_ she had spent it with, but this was Lili, she was far too innocent for that.

"I slept very well thank you Lili," she replied cautiously, "and yourself?"

Lili's smile widened, "very well."

Lili divided a huge stack of pancakes onto three plates, "big brother!" She called, "I made breakfast!"

"You didn't have to do that Lili, I would've done it," came Vash's voice from down the hall.

"You're welcome!" Lili called back sweetly, she half-rolled her eyes and smiled at Anniliese.

"There's no pleasing him, is there?" Anniliese asked mildly. Lili grinned and shook her head.

"It would take a really extraordinary person to make my brother happy."

* * *

After he tumbled ungracefully out of bed, feeling like a complete idiot (though thankfully no one saw), Vash ran immediately into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. After he slammed it shut he leaned against the door and slid down against it, heart hammering. He felt like a silly high school girl with a crush. The word _'fuck' _kept repeating itself over and over in his head.

_Why did it have to be her?_ He wondered glumly, not that there was any other teacher he would consider taking home but still... _Why her?_

His face burned and he gripped his fringe with both hands. _Damn it..._ And now he had to go out and see her didn't he?

_What if it's awkward?_ He wondered, but dismissed the idea, it wouldn't be awkward, and why would it be _awkward?_ It didn't mean anything to _Anniliese;_ all they'd done was sleep side by side. He was her student she saw him as nothing less, nothing more.

Vash heard Lili calling for him and, after replying, pulled himself up again, he might as well get it over with. Vash wasn't a believer in avoiding the issue.

* * *

When Wednesday's lesson came around Anniliese was in a good mood. Tuesday had gone well for her, after a slightly awkward breakfast with Vash she had spent the rest of the morning with the siblings until Lili had gone to school. After that Anniliese had gotten to know Vash a little until her clothes dried and she left.

Apparently Lili had liked her so much she had invited her around next Monday for dinner as well. Anniliese, sensing that having his sister and his teacher develop a friendship was making Vash feel awkward, declined but promised to drop by soon. She really liked Lili and was getting to know Vash better too.

* * *

After the lesson Emil Bondervik packed his things into his bag with a mental sigh, the sixteen year old was going home alone today. Normally on a Wednesday he walked home with Luka, Berwald, Mathias and Tina since Wednesday's lesson was in the afternoon unlike Monday and Friday's lessons.

Today however, Berwald was taking Luka and Tina out shopping while Mathias was staying late with Anniliese who had offered to go over an assignment with him.

Shouldering his bag he waved carelessly to his sister and friends before taking off.

Lost in thought, Emil wasn't looking where he was going. So as he rounded the corner he didn't see the other boy until it was too late.

Emil gasped softly as he tumbled backwards, fast as his fall was, the other boy was faster.

"Careful," Emil had screwed his eyes shut as he fell backwards, braced for an impact that never came. When he opened his eyes he found a liquid brown pair inches from his own.

"Are you alright?" The boy asked in a Chinese accent, blinking languidly.

Emil blushed a pale pink from adrenaline and surprise at the almost-fall, then a much darker red from mortification.

His saviour was _Leon Wang._ Leon Wang as in Yao Wang and Kiku Honda's biological and foster younger brother.

Leon Wang as in his next door neighbour.

Leon Wang as in the godly-looking seventeen year old he had had a massive crush on from the second they laid eyes on each other.

Emil realized that he was lying wrapped in Leon's arms while he stared at him wordlessly and the older boy waited for a response.

"Ah, yeah, I'm fine, thanks." Emil said, squirming. Leon set him on the ground and took his hand to help him to his feet.

_He's straight, he's straight, he's straight, he's straight, he's straight!_ Emil chanted mentally, Leon was just being nice; he was just helping out his weird, socially awkward neighbour, nothing to make Emil's heart beat ten thousand beats per minute over.

But it was.

"Are you headed home?" Leon asked quietly, Leon did a lot of things quietly, he wasn't a loud guy.

Which was bad at the moment because Emil wasn't very talkative at the best of times and could hardly string two words together when Leon looked at him.

Emil nodded wordlessly and dusted himself off. A small smile flitted across Leon's face, "cool. I am too. Let's walk together?"

Emil nodded again before realizing that most normal people would respond vocally in a conversation at least once.

"Sure," he whispered.

Leon smiled again, his dark eyes lighting up. Emil's heart beat erratically.

Leon turned to leave, "cool, let's go."

* * *

On Thursday Feliks Łukasiewicz went to see his girlfriend Tora at her shitty apartment. He wasn't checking up on her or anything, because, despite Feliks's doubts about the strength of her roof, Tora was a big girl who could take care of herself.

No, Feliks went to see Tora because she was literally his favourite person in the world and he was counting on her good nature not to kick him out of her house because she was busy. Tora was always busy.

But that was one of the things Feliks loved about Tora, she was always so busy and worked so hard but she always smiled for him and made time for him, no matter how annoying or inconvenient he was.

Of course, it had never occurred to her to let him _help_ with anything, even when he was so willing to give her everything. Tora was an independent girl who always had to solve her own problems.

Back when they had first started dating (or rather, Feliks had started dragging Tora with him everywhere he went) he had thought she might have (eventually) agreed to go out with him because he was loaded and willing to give her anything she wanted.

But that was so far from the truth; Tora was more intimidated by his money than anything else, the less she was reminded of it the happier she always was. She never asked for anything and she never let him help her out in any way.

_Stubborn woman,_ he mentally sighed and rolled his eyes as he knocked a few times and let himself into Tora's apartment, the lock on the front door was broken.

"To~ra!" He sang, popping his head around the door, "Eduard! Ravis! Is anyone home?"

Eduard, who was studying at the small, rickety table, waved him inside and Ravis, curled up on the moth-eaten loveseat reading a book, looked up and smiled at him, offering him a small wave.

"Heya Rav, Ed, is your sister here?" Feliks asked brightly.

"Hi Feliks, yeah, she's out the back doing the laundry." Ravis informed him.

Feliks rolled his eyes, _why am I not surprised?_ He ruffed Ravis's hair as he walked past and the younger boy smiled, secretly pleased, the only people he'd ever received any positive form of attention or affection from were his older brother and sister and he was glad to widen his group of affectionate people to a grand total of three.

Feliks let himself out the back after exchanging a greeting with Eduard, secretly he was a little uncomfortable around the older of Tora's two younger brothers, mostly because he was certain Eduard disliked him for stealing their sister's attention away from them.

"Like, hi Tora!" he chirped, running over to his girlfriend and kissing her cheek, slinging an arm around her shoulders, Tora smiled at him and continued hanging up the damp washing and taking the dry stuff down. She was nearly done, she and her brothers didn't own a lot.

"Hello Feliks," Tora said placidly, she folded the last shirt and placed it in a pile on a chair she always kept by the washing line before picking the pile up and heading back inside.

Feliks ran and opened the door for her, that was just about as much as Tora would ever let him do, before following her into her room as she began to sort the clothing into three piles (hers, Eduard's and Ravis's) and put things away.

"So I was thinking, it would be, like, totally great if you and I went and tried out the new massage place my mother opened up, it'll be totally fun, she gave me two free tickets and everything!" Feliks said. He had long since learned that the easiest way to get Tora to co-operate with him was to say that he wanted to do something and drag her along and hoped she liked it.

It was hard to please a woman when doing something nice for her displeased her and made her think you pitied her, even when you didn't.

Of course, Feliks tried to be the best boyfriend he could be without spending money, he listened when she spoke, was nice, polite, caring and sensitive, or at least he tried to be. Feliks's number 1 problem was he just _wasn't_ sensitive and thoughtful, he was selfish and he knew it.

But Tora made him want to better himself; he hoped she could see he was trying. No, he was sure she could. He might not be sensitive and thoughtful but she was.

But was wanting to spoil the most hardworking and dedicated woman on the planet every once in a while really that wrong?

Tora smiled regretfully, "sorry Feliks, I have to work extra shifts for the next two weeks."

"Wha?!" He complained loudly, this was news to him. "Like, what _for?"_

Tora sighed wearily and rubbed her brow, "rent price is going up. And I don't want Eduard to have to get a job just to help pay the bills. He's not even eighteen yet, he shouldn't have to worry about things like this. He has so much potential, he should be using it in his school work. And Ravis has enough to worry about too."  
Sometimes she was the craziest woman Feliks had ever met.

"How much did the rent go up by?" Feliks asked.

"Enough that, coupled with the pipe repairs we had to have done, I need to make an extra two hundred dollars by the end of the month." Tora replied.

Feliks winced, today was the 24th of October, she was never going to make it and was doing no-one any favours by pretending she would.

"I can-" he began.

Tora shook her head, knowing what he was about to say, "I can't let you do that for me Feliks. You know I won't be able to pay you back."

"I'll _give_ you the money, he replied. He actually had two hundred in notes on him now but he didn't say that for fear of sounding like he was rubbing it in.

Tora shook her head again, "no Feliks, if I let you pay now where does it end? I can't, won't, rely on you for everything."

"But I'm, like, you're boyfriend and stuff. Boyfriends and girlfriends are supposed to support each other, right? So why wont you let me support you? Don't you love me Tora?" Feliks was playing dirty, he knew it, but he had tried everything else and it hadn't worked.

Well… not quite_ everything _else.

Tora couldn't help it, her lips twitched, so he was her boyfriend 'and stuff' was he? She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "You're sweet," she said. "But no. I need to make the money on my own, not have you do things for me."

"Well, I've actually been thinking about that, hear me out?" Asked Feliks, not a lie, he _had_ been thinking about this. "I know a way you can make $200 easy. I, like, wouldn't be giving you a thing."

Tora turned to favour him with a brief smile, "I'm listening."

"You," Feliks swallowed nervously, all traces of air-headed barbie gone from his personality, "you could…marry me."

Tora dropped the jeans she was holding. Feliks bent down, retrieved them and folded it again, albeit more clumsily than she had, and handed it to her, heart hammering, "think about it, what's mine is yours. You'd never have to worry about money ever again. You deserve that life Tora and I want to give it to you. And I, like, love you, more than anything. So... Will you marry me?" God, that had to be the worst marrage proposal he had ever heard.

Tora stared at him, thunderstruck for a few seconds, "Feliks I…" a blush crept over her cheeks. _We're too young, we should get married because we want to, not because I'm dirt poor, you're joking, right? I don't really believe in marriage, it never works._ All ran through her head but she couldn't say them. That sounded like she didn't _want_ to marry Feliks.

And truthfully, a wild, selfish little part of her did. Not because marrying him would solve all of her financial problems for life (an added bonus).

But because she truly _loved _him.

Feliks held his breath, Tora hadn't said anything yet, he was pretty sure she was considering the best way to tell him some variation of "DON'T YOU _DARE_ PITY ME!" but he desperately hoped her silence was because she was actually _considering _it. Feliks knew they were young but, for all his faults, he knew a good thing when he saw one.

Tora Laurinaitis was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Tora laughed.

Feliks blinked, horrified, Tora was cracking up laughing, clutching the jeans to her chest, tears running down her face.

"Oh Feliks," she choked, "you completely _had_ me there for a minute. I actually thought you were serious!"  
She continued to laugh, oblivious to the grey raincloud rapidly forming above her boyfriend's head. Feliks glanced down at Tora's bare feet.

_What is that she's stepping on?_ He wondered idly. _Oh, I do believe that's all my self-confidence and love._

* * *

Saturday, the 26th of October, was Anniliese's 21st birthday. She was having Gilberta, Elvo and Nickolas over later in the afternoon for an impromptu party but during the day she went out to lunch with just Nickolas, back to their favourite coffee shop. And who should they bump into but…

"Miss Edelstein, fancy seeing you here again. And Mr. Nickolas Raev? Was it not?" The last part Dimitri directed at Nickolas who nodded to confirm that the young Romanian male had indeed remembered his name.

"Hello Dimitri," said Anniliese, finishing her first coffee.

"Pleasure to see you again, you two must come here often?" Dimitri inquired.

"It's Anniliese's birthday," Nickolas explained shortly, trying not to let Dimitri get to him. He'd never met anyone as effortlessly _charismatic_ as this man. Or maybe Dimitri only affected _him?_

Dimitri's blond brow rose, "really? Well where are my manners?" He flicked his wrist and pulled a red rose out of nowhere, handing it to Anniliese with a bow and a smile. "Happy birthday Miss Eldelstein."

She took it with a smile, "thank you very much Dimitri." Nickolas noticed that she didn't seem very surprised that her trouble student could pull flowers out of thin air.

"We were just about to order, would you care to join us Dimitri?" Anniliese asked sweetly.

Dimitri's red eyes flicked to Nickolas and back to her, a fact Anniliese didn't miss. "I better not, I would want to…impose."

"I insist," said Anniliese smoothly, enjoying Nickolas's obvious discomfort, Dimitri wasn't the only one who could be a sneaky bastard when he wanted to be. She was fully capable of playing dirty too. "It is my birthday after all. We'd love to have you dine with us, wouldn't we Nickolas?"

Dimitri turned sultry red eyes on the Bulgarian, smirking. Nickolas's heart rate shot through the roof and he was positive the other male could hear it.

He was saved from answering by his phone ringing, he glanced at the caller, his boss. Picking up he told Anniliese and Dimitri that he needed to take this call outside and shot off. As he left he heard Anniliese ask Dimitri what he would like and telling him to take a seat while she ordered. He thanked her politely and then Nickolas was out of earshot.

Outside he murmured 'yes' and 'no' to a couple of questions, then hung up. He turned when he heard quiet footsteps approach him.

"Dimitri," he said warily.

The Romanian smirked, "sorry to interrupt, Miss Edelstein just wanted me to ask if you wanted tomatoes in your salad?"  
_  
He's lying,_ Nickolas realized, he was allergic to tomatoes, a fact that Anniliese well knew after four years, _and why would a someone ask specifically about _tomatoes_ of all things?  
_  
He didn't say anything but his expression must've been easier to read then he'd thought. Dimitri smiled apologetically, "alright, you caught me, I just wanted an excuse to talk to you. I find it interesting that we should run into each other so soon, don't you?" He took a step forwards.

"It's not that interesting," Nickolas replied coolly, "I come here often, you live near here."

Dimitri took another step forwards, Nickolas wanted to take a step back but he remembered the first rule about predators; if you ran, they chased, it was just in their nature.

Dimitri's smile widened, "I lied."

"Come again?" Asked Nickolas.

"I lied, I don't live near here." The Romanian male informed him lightly. He took another step forwards, linking his hands behind his back, he was very close now. "I took the wrong bus and coincidentally wound up here, lost, when I spotted my teacher and yourself. I believe everything happens for a reason Mr. Raev."

Nickolas stood his ground, "and what reason would that be?" He challenged, they were only inches apart. He was the taller of the two, but only by a hair's breadth.

Dimitri's eyes glinted, "I was hoping _you_ could tell _me,_ Mr. Raev."

He leaned upwards ever so slightly, Nickolas didn't move. The brunet had no idea what he was doing, about to let almost a complete stranger kiss him but he couldn't stop himself. Hypnotised, his eyes began to slide shut...

"Nickolas? Dimitri?" Anniliese ran outside looking for them, her phone was clutched in her hand and she looked incredibly worried.

Nickolas jumped almost a foot in the air, it was unlike him to be so flighty, and Dimitri eased back on his heels. "What is it Anniliese?" The Bulgarian male asked.

Anniliese's violet orbs reflected her worry, "I have to leave, now. Gilberta just called. It's Antonio and Lovina, they're both in the hospital."

* * *

**Dun, dun, DUN! I know, I'm a bitch. **

**What happened to Toni and Lovi?! Oh noes! **

**Hehehe, I fooled you guys into thinking this was going to be a nice chapter about relationship developments and sexy Romanian's, didn't I?**

**I know I'm late but this chapter is long, that makes up for it, right? I've totally given up on keeping them 4 pages or under, no matter what size writing I'm using. But I will try to keep them all _relatively_ the same length.**

**R & R guys, tell me what you think.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Bye! **


	14. Their Worries

**Okey-dokey my lovelies! Here we go again! **

**I'm so sorry I'm late. My internet totally died on me again.**

**Many, many thanks to my wonderful reviewers;**

**Hornet394, I'm glad you like the HongIce. And Liechtenstein is just wonderful, isn't she. So sweet and innocent. Hehehe… Switzerland won't know what hit him.**  
**The awkward moment when you spell Liechtenstein right and Switzerland wrong…**  
**And you'll find out about the Baltics and Russia soon enough.**

**rubydiaz98, I'm glad you liked Poland's proposal, even if I do feel bad saying that…poor Poland, he got laughed at! Anyway, glad you liked the chappie.**

**Many thanks also go out to the same rubydiaz98 and to MirrowLight for following and favoriting, you guys rock!**

**R & R guys, hope you enjoy. As per usual; I own nothing.**

**Without further delay, I give you chapter 14!**

* * *

Chapter 14: Their Worries

Anniliese stroked Antonio's hair; the car crash had broken both of his legs and fractured one of his shoulders, he smiled at her through a haze of painkillers.

"I'm okay, really." He told her, the skin around his eyes tight with pain. The door opened and Gilberta and Francis tumbled through.

"Antonio!" They cried together.

He grinned, "hola," he winced and put the hand of his good arm to his side, "they wont let me see Lovi," he complained.

Gilberta smirked, "well I happen to know a certain Italian who threatened to set the mafia on this place if they didn't let her see you right now."

Lovina marched into the room, or tried to; she stumbled and slammed into the doorframe. Hissing, she pressed a hand to her bandaged head "Antonio," she cried, staggering forwards, hands outstretched, with a cry, he reached for her two, gasping in pain as he used his injured arm.

She collapsed against him, falling forwards against the bed. Antonio pulled her close with his good arm and buried his face in her hair. It was the cutest thing Anniliese had ever seen in her life, cuter than husky puppies frolicking in the snow, she decided. But maybe not as cute as Lili.

"I'm okay guys," the Spaniard said to his friends, his voice muffled by the Italian's hair.

Lovina pulled back and Antonio touched the bandage wrapped around her head and the ten stitches it covered. The other car had slammed into Antonio's side so Lovina had walked away with relatively minor injuries. She had to have ten stitches in her head where it had slammed into the car and there was a bandage wrapped around her right forearm but she was otherwise unscathed. Antonio, who had been driving when the drunk driver slammed into them, had not been so lucky.

Then again, Anniliese reflected, he'd been luckier then the other driver whose car had continued on after clipping theirs and smashed into a wall, the guy hadn't been wearing his seatbelt and had gone through the windshield… into the wall.

Anniliese sighed, a lost life was always sad but when it was taken so pointlessly it was…

"Pathetic…" she sighed, Gilberta glanced at her but seemed to understand that she wasn't talking about Antonio and Lovina and let her be.

Dimitri touched her shoulder, she looked up at him, he motioned at Nickolas, seated by the door, fast asleep. They'd accompanied her to the hospital, Dimitri was concerned for his classmates, or his teacher's friends as he saw these two and Nickolas had driven them here.

They'd been here for several hours before they were allowed to see Antonio, Lovina's shrieks of rage as they refused to let her see the Spaniard kept them company he whole time.

"I'm going to take him home," Dimitri said, Anniliese nodded and Dimitri walked over to Nickolas and picked him up bridal style, it was almost comical since Dimitri was the smaller of the two, albeit only slightly, but Anniliese was just impressed he could lift Nickolas so easily. The Bulgarian male stirred slightly but didn't awaken. Anniliese knew what a light sleeper he was, _he must feel very comfortable with Dimitri,_ Anniliese thought with a slight smile.

She felt her own eyelids begin to droop, it had been a long day and now it was very late. Or very early, depending on your point of view.

Anniliese opened her violet eyes as Antonio touched her hand, "sorry I ruined your birthday amor," he rasped, it seemed Lovina had fallen asleep too. Anniliese stood and pulled the blanket on Antonio's bed over both of them.

"No." She whispered, brushing Lovina's hair away from her face and kissing Antonio's brow. "You're alive. This the best birthday I ever could've asked for." Well it went without saying that a birthday where no one got hurt at all would've been even better but you could never have everything in life.

She shook Gilberta and Francis awake, "come on, I'm driving you both home."

Dimitri had taken Nickolas home in his car, Anniliese's was still at her house but she'd ended up with the Bulgarian's keys somewhere along the way.

Pulling them out she and Francis half-dragged, half-carried Gilberta to the Bulgarian's green BMW and the three of them tumbled inside. Francis gave her his address and she took off. While they were in the car, Gilberta stirred.

"Huh?" The albino straightened and rubbed her eyes, "where am I? What are we doing here?" She asked; looking around, true incomprehension in her eyes.

"We're coming back from the hospital, ma cherie; your Anna is driving us home." Francis replied from his seat next to her, he leaned forwards to give Anniliese directions.

"Huh? Why were we at the hospital?" Gilberta asked, Anniliese mentally rolled her eyes, she knew Gilberta was always bad when she woke up in the mornings but she didn't know she was this bad.

"We were visiting Toni and my dear cousin Lovina, don't you remember?" Francis said, his small smirk said he was probably thinking something similar to what Anniliese was thinking.

"WHAT! Why were Toni and Lovi at the hospital?!" Gilberta cried, Francis began explaining everything to her again patiently, Anniliese tuned them out, Gilberta must've been more tired and stressed then they'd thought.

"Oh yeah, I remember now," Gilberta said unconvincingly.

Anniliese actually did roll her eyes this time, "ponder it a while honey, it'll come back to you," she sighed.

Gilberta giggled, "yeah, my bad."

The pulled up at Francis's house and the blond thanked Anniliese and bade them both goodbye. He got out of the couch and was halfway up the long driveway when the light flickered on and the front door opened.

Arthurine stood there, wearing a pale cream nightgown, her long hair loose and flowing around her. She and Francis exchanged a few words when he reached the door and then Arthurine turned to wave tiredly at the two of them before Francis raised a hand in farewell and ushered her inside, the light flicked off, Anniliese sighed.

Her slender hands tightened on the steering wheel, "let's get you home," she told her friend.

Gilberta nodded, "bruder is waiting for me. And he's got Felici too."

When they reached Gilberta's house Ludwig ran out with a hysterical Feliciana, Kiku on their heels.

Anniliese got out of the car too and Feliciana threw herself into her arms. Anniliese stroked her caramel hair, shushing her gently, "it's alright, they're alright."

Feliciana's shoulders shook and her chest heaved with her sobs, Anniliese turned her away into Ludwig's arms and he wrapped them comfortingly, if awkwardly, around her.

Anniliese said her goodbyes to them to and returned to Nickolas's car. She would have to take return it to him. Tomorrow. Or later today, whatever. She shook her head and drove off, she was almost at her house when she remembered, there was no way Dimitri could know where Nickolas lived, so how could he have taken Nickolas home?

Well, he could've. Just not to Nickolas's home. Anniliese pulled up in her own driveway and fished her phone out of the pocket of her dress and dialled, she didn't have Dimitri's number, but she did have Nickolas's.

"Hello Professor Edelstein," Dimitri greeted.

"Did you kidnap my best friend?" She accused.

He chuckled, "oh professor, you wound me, _kidnap_ is such a strong word. I prefer to think that I simply took him without attaining permission."

"Where is he?"

"He's at my house; he's fine, if that's what you're asking." Dimitri replied.

"Define 'fine'," said Anniliese, Dimitri chuckled again.

"Where do you live? I'm coming to get him," Anniliese sighed and made to start the car again.

"That's unnecessary, my dear, he can stay with me, I have plenty of room. And it would be such a shame to move him again. He's exhausted."

'Well…" Anniliese hesitated; _Nickolas won't like this when he wakes up._

Dimitri chuckled again, "Nickolas is a big boy, he can take care of himself. Unless you doubt my honourable intentions?"

Well when he said it like _that._ "Alright. I'll trust you this time Dimitri." She let her voice take on a warning tone at the end of her sentence, Nickolas was he friend.

"Understood. I'll see you tomorrow."

"So you're coming. I see. I knew you'd see things my way." She hung up without giving Dimitri a chance to reply to that. _Serves him right._ She thought. He'd caused her more trouble than the rest of her class combined.

* * *

Far away at his humble two-bedroom home, Dimitri Drakulya sank deeper into a beige armchair, pulling his knees up and resting his chin on them, and staring at the figure lying on his guest bed.

"This is not how I imagined spending my Saturday afternoon," he muttered, setting Nickolas's phone on his bedside table. He stood and turned off the lamp, slipping out of the room silently.

* * *

Anniliese set her glasses on her bedside table when her phone went off, "who's texting me now?" She wondered aloud.

She checked the message.

**I heard what happened from a friend. Are you alright?**

**-V**

Anniliese raised an eyebrow. Unless she was much mistaken, _Vash_ had just texted her. At roughly four in the morning.

_How on Earth did he-?_ Anniliese shook her head, _I'm_ _not even surprised._

**I'm fine. And Antonio and Lovina will be too. Thank you Vash.**

Anniliese seriously hoped this was Vash now.

She waited for a few minutes and there was no reply, _definitely Vash,_ she switched her lamp off and lay down. If she wasn't asleep before her head hit the pillow, it was a pretty close run thing.

* * *

Luka Bondervik tapped her fingernail against the tabletop, she was worried. It wasn't worry for Lovina and Antonio that kept her up until this time of the morning, she didn't know what had happened to them and wouldn't find out until Monday's lesson. No, it was a different worry that kept her awake.

It was Emil.

Her beloved younger brother had spent the afternoon and most of the evening at their next door neighbour's house with one of their neighbours, his classmate Leon Wang.

It wasn't this in particular that bothered Luka. She was happy Emil was socializing and was glad it was with one of the kids from next door. She seriously didn't understand how they could have a group of six young adults living next door to them and not be friends with any of them.

So it wasn't the fact that he was spending time with a friend that was bothering her so much. It was how he had been acting when he had come home.

He had been happy. Not 'I'm-singing-in-the-rain-as-stupid-as-Mathais-happ y with sunshine, lollypops and rainbows everywhere. Just happy. He had even smiled when he told Luka where he'd been. That was something she hadn't seen in a while. He was genuinely smiling.

Again, this, while rare, was not cause to keep her up to ungodly hours of the morning. But something about it was bugging her. Why was she so upset at the thought of a friend making Emil happy? Was she really _that_ bad a sister? But it wasn't that she didn't _want_ him to be happy. She did. But now that he was something about it was making _her_ unhappy.

And that just made no sense at all.

"Luka?" Luka jumped about a foot in the air and whirled around. Even if she didn't know that voice, she'd know who it was. Only one person was able to sneak up on her like that in her own house.

"Tina? What are you doing up, you should go back to bed, you need sleep." Luka said, the big sister in her taking over.

Tina half-shrugged one of her slender shoulders, "no, it's fine. I just came down here to make sure you were alright but I don't really want to-"

She broke off; Luka knew what she was going to say. Tina didn't want to go back to bed because her room was right next to Berwald's, Tina felt guilty going to sleep in her own house because she knew that fiancée's usually slept together when they lived in the same house but she couldn't stand to be around her fiancé when she was awake, forget trying to sleep next to him.

It wasn't that Tina didn't like Berwald. She did like him.

She just didn't love him.

She felt too guilty, too awkward to fall asleep in her own house because she didn't love her own fiancé. She wasn't truly happy here.

The truth hit Luka like a thunderbolt. _That_ was why she was so upset seeing Emil smile because of Leon. Because he never smiled in his own house. He wasn't happy here either.

At the beginning, before their parents really put their feet down, Emil, Luka and Tina had lived on their own in this house. Emil still hadn't been an outgoing and overly cheerful teen but he had been happy. Then Mathias and Berwald had been forced to move in with them or get all five of them (yes, even Emil) disowned.

That's when things had changed.

Tina, sensing Luka wanted to be alone to think, crept back upstairs. Luka put her face in her hands. Now Emil would smile for his neighbours, be happy in their presence but not with her. Not with them.

Now happy, lively, brave little Tina was reduced to a stuttering, shaking mess when her fiancé was in the same room as her. Her fear was so obviously irrational that it would almost be funny if it wasn't so genuine.

Poor Berwald loved his little fiancé but she'd break off the engagement with him in a heartbeat, if she could. Living with the knowledge that the woman you loved didn't want you had to be even worse than living with the knowledge that you were stuck with a man you didn't want. Luka didn't envy either of them.

And Mathias…

_Mathias…_ Luka squeezed her eyes shut to keep back the truth. She saw herself in a similar situation to Berwald. She loved Mathias but knew she was doomed.

He said he loved her and acted like he did but his words were just words and his actions just proved to Luka that he was too stupid to even consider disliking the woman he had been told he had to marry. Even when she treated him like crap, trying to push him away.

_Idiot!_

God help her, she loved that idiot. And not in spite of his loving, stupid nature. But because of it.

Luka tapped her nail on the table in time to the tune in her head. The chorus of one of her favourite songs.

_I'm in love with a fairytale_

_Even though it hurts_

_Cuz I don't care if I lose my mind_

_I'm already cursed…_

She stopped tapping when she heard a familiar pair of footsteps approach the dining room. _Think of the Devil and the Devil shall appear._

"Luka?" Mathias set his hands on her shoulders but she gave no sign she had noticed his presence anyway. "I saw Tina's light on and that you weren't in your room. Is everything okay?" He hugged her closer.

_No Mathias, everything's not okay._ She put one of her hands on her chest and gently pushed him away. "Go away Mathais." She said quietly.

Mathias didn't even dare breathe. He might be an idiot but he could sure as Hell tell when his future wife was being her usual bratty self and when she was being serious.

She was being serious.

Luka had never seriously told him to go away before.

"W-what's wrong? Did I do something? Luka? Honey?" Mathias tried to keep his voice light and jovial but he failed and he knew it.

"Just go away Mathias," Luka whispered, utterly defeated.

Mathias hugged her tightly and left. He fought down rising panic. At any given moment Luka was always within earshot, always close. They lived together for God's sake.

So why did he feel as though he had just hugged her for the last time?

* * *

In his room across from his brother's, Berwald lay awake, listening to first his fiancée and then his brother and finally, his future sister-in-law go back to bed and wondered what on Earth he had to do to make his own fiancée love him.

_You can't make someone love anyone._ A voice in his head reminded him. Berwald didn't have an answer for that.

None of them did.

* * *

**And there we have it. That was kind of a breather chapter. A break from all the excitement. I have to warn you though; there were a couple of little details in that chapter that is some serious foreshadowing. Oh dear, I've said too much!**

**And the song Norway was thinking of is Fairytale by Alexander Rybak but I assume all you DeNor fans knew that already.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed guys, see you next week!**


	15. Her Lesson

**Hi guys, I'm sorry I'm a little late. **

**Firstly, thanks to the wonderful BlueFeatherStar for favoriting and reviewing! You rock!**

**Next thanks go to Guest, glad you liked! Thank you for reviewing too!**

**Many thanks also go to Hornet394 this chapter is a bit happier! A bit! I updated! You rock too!**

**To SnowFallsSilverOnRoute37. I loved your review! It was very informative! Even if I did have to read it two or three times to understand it, heheh... I'm stupid... anyway, Rome's surname to be Vargas so it was the same as the twins. His real first name is actually Romulus (good guess). He just calls himself Rome because...well I can't give away everything in the author's notes can I? And I'm glad you like it!**

**Anyway, thank you all! R & R guys, hope you enjoy.**

**I don't own.**

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Chapter 15: Her Lesson

Anniliese's day started as usual. Today was Monday the 4th of November; it had been just over a week since her birthday and Antonio and Lovina's accident. Lovina had gotten out of the hospital the next day and now, grudgingly, sat in class. Feliciana basically had to drag Lovina away from Antonio's beside, kicking and screaming but the younger Italian had insisted that it was unhealthy for Lovina to live in the hospital for a week and Antonio had agreed so here she was.

_If only it were always that simple to convince people,_ Anniliese thought, _sometimes I worry that by the time I'm done finding out about all the problems everyone has with me, each other and life in general it'll be too late to do anything about it, the year will be over. And we can just forget about the semester, that'll be long gone before I have any hope of getting to the bottom of any of this. _

"No! I'm not going!" A voice, one she recognized, broke Anniliese out of her reverie.

She whipped around, _Matthew,_ she hurried towards the sound of her student's determined but slightly fearful voice. It was coming from the hall outside her classroom.

"Excuse me young man, you'll do as you're told! I am your father!" A voice snapped back, "the three of us have important business to attend to and you are not getting out of it to attend some worthless therapy lesson!" This voice also sounded familiar, but Anniliese couldn't place it.

"Actually, daddy dearest, Matthew and I will go wherever we damn well please, you have no custody of us. As far as I'm concerned, you aren't even our father." This lazy drawl was Alfred's voice.

Another snarl from the man they were calling father, "you'll do as you're told too! I am also your teacher!"

_Teacher?_ Anniliese wondered, she yanked the classroom door open.

Matthew stood, hands clenched defiantly at his sides, glaring at Mr. Jones, the man who had doubted that Anniliese's class would show up. Alfred leaned against the wall, arms folded, a solid presence at his brother's side.

Anniliese walked forwards to stand between them, "Mr. Jones, If Matthew and Alfred do not wish to leave with a parent _who has no say over what they do _during school ours then that is their decision."

Anniliese knew she was being quite cruel now but she wasn't sorry. "And no teacher has the authority to take a minor out of school grounds, especially without their consent! Not to mention that Alfred and Matthew currently need to be in that _worthless therapy lesson," _Mr. Jones reddened, "and are under _my_ care, not yours. Now if you'll excuse us, we're late for class. You'll just have to attend to your _important business_ on your own. Good day." She motioned to the twins, Matthew and Alfred –who was barely able to control his snickering- followed her back into the classroom.

When the two of them sat down at their desks Matthew favored Anniliese with a wide smile, "Thanks." He said sincerely.

"That's perfectly alright, just remember what I said Matthew. It's your choice."

He gave her a full blown grin, "I will." Alfred winked at her and on impulse, Anniliese returned the gesture.

She walked up to the front of the room and clapped her hands once to get everyone's attention. As she did she noticed something weird. Berwald and Mathias were sitting at their table at the back as usual but Tina, Luka and Emil were sitting a few rows from the front, huddled together. The next weird thing was the total swap in personalities. Berwald looked stoic as usual and Luka seemed even more withdrawn than usual. Tina was laughing softly at something Emil said but there were huge bags under her eyes.

They weren't the ones Anniliese was watching though. Mathias was sitting slumped forwards in his chair, his head in his hands, normally she'd just think he was hung over but she could practically see the depressed rain-cloud above his head.

By contrast Emil seemed perkier and livelier than Anniliese had ever seen him, talking to Tina quietly but quickly and occasionally waving his hands for emphasis.

When Anniliese clapped her own hands Emil stopped talking, Berwald and Tina looked to the front and Luka looked up from the blank paper she was absentmindedly tapping her pen against. Mathias didn't even budge; he looked so lost in his own deep thoughts that Anniliese wasn't even sure he'd heard her.

_If I wasn't too busy being busy this job might make me seriously depressed,_ Anniliese sighed mentally.

Plastering a small smile on her face Anniliese turned her attention to her whole class, "alright guys, everyone's been working perfectly," a glance at Antonio, Gilberta and Francis, _or close enough,_ "so today I want us to run through the whole musical from start to finish. If we run out of time we'll pick it up again on Wednesday."

Elvo and Feliciana both whooped as everyone started to set up the stage. The backdrops that the more artistically talented students, Francis, Feliciana and Kiku especially had painted and stitched together (though the stitching was mostly Arthurine) looked amazing. Anniliese smiled, proud.

Not everyone was enthusiastic but the enthusiasm of the ones who were was contagious and pretty soon everyone was running to set things up.

The majority of the play ran smoothly, the costumes looked awesome, aside from having a stuffed lion cub fill in for baby Simba/Antonio, everything was great. Until they reached the scene where Scar/Elvo had to kill Mufasa/Alfred (because really, who else would play the first Lion King?).

After Elvo delivered his ominous line, _long live the king,_ he was supposed to dig his 'claws' (Foam coloured black and superglued to ends of Elvo's costume but don't tell the audience that), Mufasa/Alfred was supposed to fall to his death.

In actuality Alfred would be falling a meter from a bunch of large wooden blocks that Anniliese had borrowed off the science teacher (not sure what they had to do with science but whatever) and they'd stacked on top of each other, onto a gymnastic mat.

However when his cue to 'die' came Alfred decided to mess up their perfect (so far) musical.

"Nope," he said, grinning, "not today."

Beside Anniliese, Arthurine ripped out a page in her notebook and scrunched it into a ball. She drew back her arm, preparing to throw it.

Francis caught her hand from behind, "patience ma cherie, all good things come to those who wait."

Elvo's green eyes slid to the side, he winked, at Arthurine or Anniliese, the brunette wasn't quite sure.

"Don't worry; I'm a professional at dealing with idiots." He said, he drew out his frying pan from behind his back.

_Where the Hell does he put that thing?_ Anniliese wondered, not for the first time.

Elvo whacked Alfred on the head; Alfred let out a surprised yelp and tumbled backwards, landing safely on the mat, flat on his back.

"Elvo!" Anniliese scolded, feeling more like a mother to a bunch of rowdy teenagers than a teacher.

He smiled innocently, "sorry."

Anniliese sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, ignoring Gilberta's drawl of _"oh_ so it's not okay when he hits _Alfred_ but when it's _me-"_

Anniliese tuned her out.

After the bell rang for the end of the lesson Anniliese touched Dimitri's arm, "hey I forgot to ask, how did Nickolas take it when he woke up at your house last week?"

Something flashed behind Dimitri's red eyes and he smirked, "I think he took it_ rather well."_

Anniliese raised an eyebrow, "he beat the heck out of you, didn't he?"

A chuckle, "he tried."

* * *

After the lesson Anniliese was walking slowly to her car, reminding herself to inquire into what the Hell was going on with Mathias if things were the same next lesson, it was possible they wouldn't be, after all; overly-cheerful/obnoxious Danes were allowed to have bad days too, when she was hailed by Mr. Jones, "Miss Edelstein!"

She turned, "good morning Mr. Jones," she greeted politely.

"Good morning," he looked awkward and for the first time Anniliese saw a resemblance to his sons in him, "I wanted to apologize for this morning, I was rude to you and my sons, I insulted your work and I overstepped my boundaries. I apologize."

"Oh," Anniliese blinked, "well that's fine. It must be hard," despite herself she felt some sympathy for this man, she had never even thought about having children of her own but if she ever did she would be devastated if she had them so close but was unable to see them.

In fact, she assumed that was why Mr. Jones had become a teacher here of all places but something didn't sit right with her, she and Mr. Jones had met almost at the beginning of the year.

_What sort of parent would meet the teacher of their child's 'therapy class' and not tell her they were the kids' parent? I mean aside from my mother, what parent would do that?_

Mr. Jones smiled slightly, "Matthew's been doing a lot better, since he started with you. It's nice for him to have someone in a position of authority who believes in him at all."

_So you don't?_ Anniliese didn't say that out loud, no need to start a war, instead she inclined her head, "thank you Mr. Jones, I'm glad to hear that."

She waited but he didn't say anything else, he just looked as though he wanted to so Anniliese prompted him, "was there something else?"

He seemed to make a decision and shook his head, "no, that's all. Thank you for your time."

Anniliese inclined her head again, "have a good day Mr. Jones."

"Yeah, you too," he bolted.

Anniliese rolled her eyes, _Americans._

She was almost at her car when another voice, one she didn't recognize called her name.

"Excuse me! Miss Edelstein?!"

Anniliese rested her hand on the door handle of her car and sighed, _what now?_

* * *

Tina was packing up her things, humming to herself slightly, when a large hand fell on her shoulder. For reasons she wasn't quite sure of, she immediately assumed it was Mathias and turned around with a wide smile on her face.

The smiled disappeared faster than quicksand when she saw who it was, "Berwald!" She yelped. Looking back on the situation she wasn't 100% sure why that was such a huge shock to her, he knew her too.

"Take a walk with me?" Berwald asked in his quiet, rumbling voice. Tina blinked, confused, he rarely even asked her to pass the salt at the dinner table but after a moment she smiled and nodded. She didn't have a problem with taking a walk with him, even if the request was a bit out of the blue, now if he would just wipe that terrifying, severe look off his face they might even get along.

They walked out the door, Berwald carried her bag for her which Tina thought was incredibly sweet but was too petrified to say so.

"I wanted t' ask ya something," Berwald said after a while as they walked aimlessly away from the school building.

Tina looked curious; she tilted her head to the side as her huge violet eyes looked up at Berwald in a manner that was almost childlike. That was one of the many things Berwald loved about her, her sincerity, her innocence, the way she wore her every emotion on her face.

"I wanted t' know if Luka's told ya anything about the fight or whatever she had with Mathias." Berwald said.

Tina would be lying if she said she didn't know something was up between Luka and Mathias but Berwald was the last person she wanted to discuss it with and she was honestly surprised he didn't know about it already. She searched for a good way to explain it.

"Well..." she said after a while, "I guess Luka just decided she was sick of pretending."

"Pretending?"

"Well, you know," a slightly nervous, slightly sad laugh, "tired of pretending Mathias cares about her, tired of pretending that either of them have any intention of actually getting married when the don't want to."

Another laugh, this one more sad than nervous. "Don't get me wrong or anything, Luka will still marry Mathias, her parents have insurance, if she doesn't marry him both she and Emil will be disinherited, same as you and Mathias if you don't marry me." She rubbed her hands together, "but even though Luka loves Mathias, she knows he's not really in love with her so she's decided to stop pretending his happy-go-lucky affectionate attitude is okay with her and she told him so." She sighed, "That's pretty much it."

Berwald stopped walking, "Tina. Did ya just say that Luka loves Mathias?"

She glanced up at him again, "yeah, that's what I said."

"Mathias is in love with her too."

For the first time since he'd known her, Berwald saw a suspicious look in Tina's eyes. She said her hands on her hips, "is that what you think, what you know, or what Mathias asked you to say because Luka's the best friend I've ever had and if she gets hurt-"

"That's what I know," Berwald interrupted her firmly, "and do ya really think Mathias would ever hurt her? And that I would ever let him?"

Tina looked uncomfortable, "no. Of course I don't, but did you really mean that? He's in love with her too?"

Berwald nodded, eyes shinning with relief and hope, "if we told them that, got them t' realize they loved each other, or even just t' talk about it, do you think they have a chance together?" Tina was sure this was the most she had ever heard him say in one go.

She nodded eagerly, "I'd say there's a great chance as long as they don't act stupid and mess this up." Berwald privately thought that if they were counting on Mathias to act smart than any romance between the two was doomed but he didn't say that.

Tina was busy looking into Berwald's eyes, she wished they would shine like that all the time; it took away the severe, scary look and made him look a thousand times more approachable. For the first time she realized that Berwald was actually a very handsome man and his eyes were such a beautiful colour, darker than the sky, lighter than the sea, like secret pools of pure blue...

"You have such beautiful eyes," she whispered without thinking, then mortification flooded her and she ducked her head as her cheeks turned the colour of a fire engine, "I'm sorry," she squeaked, "that was totally random."

"Ah," Berwald was completely caught of guard, he looked completely baffled, "well so do ya'," he told her.

Then it was Tina's turn to look surprised, "really? Th-thank you." Suddenly she grinned and reached out and grabbed Berwald's hand. She curled it into a fist and bumped it against her own fist, "let's get your brother and my best friend together!"

Berwald smiled back at her and for the first time, Tina wasn't afraid.

* * *

Anniliese turned and saw a young man, her age or a few years older, wearing a smart black suit jogging towards her. He had combed back brown hair and pale brown eyes, "you're Anniliese Edelstein, the new 'help' teacher?"

"I am. Who's asking?" Anniliese asked, turning away from her car.

The man grinned at her, "wow, sucks to be you, doesn't it." He held out a hand, "I'm Trent Hardwik, the high school music teacher."

Anniliese shook his hand, "really? High school students, and what's that like?" _I don't know why, but for some reason I'm absolutely certain I'm better than him at absolutely every instrument ever invented._

He grinned at her again he had very white, straight teeth. He didn't let go of her hand, "It's lively. I've heard of you. Miss Edelstein. I saw you perform once, when I was vacationing in Austria. You were absolutely...breathtaking."

"Why thank you," Anniliese said.

Hiding behind a convenient, nearby wall, Gilberta Beilschmidt winced, if this guy thought he was going to be able to flatter Anniliese by complimenting her playing he was trying with the wrong girl. Anniliese had her faults, she was bossy, strict and could never admit when she was wrong but she wasn't vain.

"You know what you're doing is a complete waste of time, right? There's no fixing those kids. If you ask me you should talk to Rome about being moved into the music department. We could really use your talent there. And I would certainly enjoy the company," he winked at her.

_Oh I'm glad Elvo's not seeing this, _Gilberta thought, _this guy's body might end up in an alley tomorrow if he did._ She grinned, _then again, if this creep doesn't let go of Anna's hand soon, the awesome me might just let something slip..._

Anniliese tried to yank her hand away without letting it show that she was disgusted, "First and foremost, Mr. Hardwik, those 'children' don't need fixing. They need help. And I find it interesting that a music teacher would think what I'm doing is a waste of time considering my class is putting on a musical."

Mr. Hardwik looked politely astonished, "I did not know that. Well, in that case I look forward to seeing it. And please, call me Trent. Well," he shook her hand again, "I'll see you around, Miss Edelstein; don't forget what I said about the music department."

"I won't." Anniliese promised, "Have a nice day _Trent."_ He walked off, Anniliese watched him go as she wiped her hand on her skirt. _Good, he came just in time; I was beginning to forget why I avoid the other teachers who work here like the plague. Now I remember._

She sighed, "Why do all the teachers here have to be either really insane, but nice, or complete assholes?" She said out loud.

Gilberta bounced up to her and slung an arm around the shorter woman's shoulders, "is there any other type of teachers?" She asked.

Anniliese ignored the arm around her shoulder and turned to her car, "me I hope. Do you want a lift home, Gilberta?"

Her albino friend shook her head, "no thanks, I'm waiting on Elvo, he and the awesome me are going to catch a movie together. So, what did you think of Mr. Hardwik? I can think of another place he should shove all his suggestions and opinions."

Anniliese allowed herself a brief smile, "there's a line from a song I'm quite fond of that describes this situation quite well; 'you've got opinions man, we're all entitled to them, but I never asked'."

"King of Anything?" Gilberta asked, Anniliese nodded, the two girls shared a similar taste in music, except when it came to Anniliese's classical and Gilberta's heavy metal. Yeah, other than that.

"There's Elvo, I gotta run," Gilberta chirped, she kissed Anniliese on the cheek, laughing at her annoyed hiss.

"Gilberta! We're on school property and everything you moron!"

Laughing her strange hissing laugh the albino ran off. "Have fun!" Anniliese called after her, she waved back.

Anniliese had just unlocked her car door when yet another voice stopped her, "glad to see you didn't get sucked in by Hardwik."

Anniliese didn't turn around, "so. You're speaking to me then?"

"He's Lili's music teacher. I've wanted to kill the bastard more than once. He's really all talk and no game but I'm glad you didn't get suckered in."

In the reflection on her car's window Anniliese watched Vash run a hand through his blond hair. He reached up a hand to play with the tiny opal on a silver chain around his neck. He completely ignored her comment.

"Not that I have any business telling you who you should and should not associate with. I'm sorry. Just don't forget what he's like Miss Edelstein, you're a smart woman and a great teacher but you can be a bit forgetful sometimes."

He walked off. _I'm not forgetful. _Anniliese thought with a slight frown._ I'm responsible,_ _almost overly so. I wonder what made him think that. Did I forget something involving him in some way?_

She got into her car and drove off, still trying to remember what she might have forgotten.

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**Leave a review guys! See ya next week!**


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